Inspired Pet Nutrition (IPN), owner of the Wagg and Harrington brands, has begun a new project with Leeds Beckett University to audit and reduce the carbon emissions across its entire supply chain.
IPN will work with academic experts at the university on a two-year Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) programme, which is part-funded by the government through Innovate UK. The aim of the project is for IPN to achieve its net zero carbon goal whilst becoming the first UK pet food manufacturer to analyse the sustainability of the company’s whole supply chain using a Carbon Footprint Evaluation Model.
The KTP will begin with the recruitment of a graduate associate, who will be embedded as a full-time member of the IPN team for the duration of the two-year project. The associate will lead the project, with support and input from the academic team at Leeds Beckett.
The team will seek to capture exactly where the energy use is within IPN’s supply chain and then apply data analysis techniques to determine which areas IPN need to prioritise to gain the biggest energy savings. The techniques will be developed throughout the project to include Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning.
This value chain evaluation will enable IPN to make strategic decisions about its choice of ingredients and suppliers. A key part of the project will be to work with smaller suppliers to assist them in measuring their own carbon emissions and become more sustainable.
Professor Christopher Gorse, researcher at the Leeds Sustainability Institute (LSI) at Leeds Beckett and project leader, explained: “All large companies at the moment are progressing on a journey towards net zero – and IPN are already well on their way. They have already achieved carbon negative accreditation in relation to their on-site emissions, such as fuel and electricity consumption, known as ‘Scope 1 and 2’ of the international Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
“This project will set up a framework to analyse and evaluate IPN’s ‘Scope 3’ emissions – the carbon produced within the supply (or value) chain. This is the most difficult to measure and will ensure that IPN are a truly sustainable company.”
Chris Wragg, group marketing director at IPN, said: “Sustainability is at the heart of our vision at IPN: to become the nation’s most sustainable, most loved, home of pet nutrition brands. This project will play a key role in understanding and improving our supply chain and business, helping us to continue to leave a positive pawprint in everything we do. For people, by enabling them to feed great nutrition they can afford & feel good about, meaning healthier and happier pets, and for the planet by reducing our environmental impact.”
Will Bushell, head of marketing, Dog Business Unit, at IPN, added: “We believe the key to developing more sustainable business practices is data. By better understanding the environmental impact of our full supply chain we will be able to set better targets, make better decisions and measure their impact more effectively so we can show our customers, our shoppers and our employees that we are making a positive impact and walking the talk.”
