This week’s standout figures feature fresh government funding for agri-tech innovations, an incentive for students to recycle drinks bottles, time inside for a group convicted of food crime, and a stark demonstration of the lack of collaboration in supply chain sustainability goals.
£12.6m. The pot of money Defra is offering in a new ‘Dragon’s Den’ style competition to fund the next wave of farming innovations. Delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, the competition will build on previously funded ideas, like robotic strawberry pickers and early-warning health systems for cattle, that aim to cut costs, reduce seasonal labour, improve animal health or tackle wider industry challenges.
20p. The financial reward on offer for students at New College Lanarkshire in Scotland who use a reverse vending machine (RVM) to recycle their beverage can or bottle. Environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful is partnering with the college and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners to introduce the scheme, which will reward students for every can and plastic bottle recycled through RVMs on campuses during September as part of a recycling push.
42 months. The prison sentence handed out to meat industry veteran, Anthony Fear, who along with three other men has been convicted of diverting meat not fit for human consumption back into the human food chain. It follows an investigation by Southwark Council and the Food Standard Agency’s National Food Crime Unit into Fears Animal Products Ltd. The investigation began when Southwark officers discovered 1.9 tonnes of Category 3 animal by- products, including whole and cut chickens, lamb’s testicles and beef burgers, being processed for sale into the human food chain at an illegal meat cutting plant in London.
90%. The proportion of corporate supply chain sustainability goals that are designed to “push or pull” direct suppliers, rather than create partnerships with mutual value. That’s according to a new report by the World Resources Institute which argues that without technical support and financing, smaller suppliers can struggle to meet cost pressures and invest in sustainability goals.
