Neles is introducing Neles™ Eurohub, a centralized warehouse and logistics concept catering to the needs of its European channel partners. The new concept enables fast and reliable delivery of off-the-shelf Neles products and parts from a conveniently located hub. Eurohub opens with a wide selection of valve automation products, as well as selected valve types.

Eurohub ensures continuous access to a selection of off-the-shelf Neles products and parts, including Easyflow by Neles™ JA series resilient seated butterfly valves, RNP series rack and pinion actuators, as well as K series limit switches and solenoid valves. “Availability is key for our channel partners. With the new Eurohub concept, we can now offer them additional flexibility through our stock – and just a few hours away from their warehouse,” says Kalle Suurpää, Executive Vice President of Valve Controls and Actuators business line at Neles.

“Our start with Eurohub has been promising, and customer feedback on delivery times, for instance, has been very positive,” Suurpää adds.

“We have had a great experience with Eurohub. The off-the-shelf offering fits our needs well, and we have received the ordered products fast,” says Christian Göttgens, Managing Director of Göttgens GmbH.

Ensured availability with short delivery times all across the continent

Eurohub ensures continuous access to a selection of standard Neles products and parts. European channel partners can order a range of simpler off-the-shelf products that do not require advanced engineering or customization. In addition, Eurohub shares responsibility for the storage of standard products; the savings for partners come from not having to store a large range of products.

Shipments are dispatched within 24 hours of ordering. Delivery times range from same-day delivery to a maximum of 1.5 weeks to the farther reaches of Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, or Russia.

For more information about the Neles Eurohub concept and the stocked offering, visit our website: neles.com/eurohub.

Neles is one of the leading providers of mission-critical flow control solutions and services for process industries. With our global team of experts and innovative solutions, we help our customers to improve their process performance and ensure the safe flow of materials. Neles is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki in Finland and had sales of about EUR 576 million in 2020. Neles employs about 2,950 people in approximately 40 countries.

www.neles.com

Golden Malt has entered into an agreement with The Healthy Grain of Australia to bring health-promoting barley to the Nordic and Baltic markets. BARLEYmax™, developed by Australia’s CSIRO and commercialized by The Healthy Grain, is a fibrous whole grain product that is suitable for a large variety of everyday foods such as breakfast, bakery, and snack products.

According to The Healthy Grain of Australia: BARLEYmax™ was developed to address the four major chronic diseases of our time – heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and colo-rectal cancer.

As a digestive aid, BARLEYmax™ beats oats with up to 70% higher beta-glucan content. BARLEYmax™ whole grain includes twice the dietary fiber of traditional barley, as well as a unique combination of prebiotic fibres. Beta-glucan is a long-chain carbohydrate and human dietary fiber that forms an intestinal cholesterol-lowering gel. The prebiotic fibres found in BARLEYmax® help support a healthy gut microbiome and good gut function.

BARLEYmax™ has been developed using conventional breeding methods. The BARLEYmax™, six-row spring-type, variety has been in field trials in Northern Europe by Golden Malt.

“Despite that the last season growing conditions were very challenging for spring cereals, BARLEYmax™ performed promisingly in our trials. We are going to provide the first test production batched to our industrial partners during this fall and winter.” - says Eero Nissilä, CEO of Golden Malt.

BARLEYmax™ products have already entered Australian and Asian markets, and especially in Japan, health-conscious consumers are excited about it. In addition to BARLEYmax™, Golden Malt's collaboration with The Healthy Grain covers another unique cereal, gluten-free barley Kebari®, which addresses the growing market demand for virtually non-gluten products. In order to develop new Kebari® varieties specifically adapted for Northern European growing conditions, Golden Malt has started cooperation with a Danish company Sejet Plant Breeding.

Golden Malt

Golden Malt is a Finnish startup dedicated to the development and production of novel premium quality cereal and specialty crop-based products. Golden Malt is a crop value chain management specialist with expertise from raw materials to processing and market products. Golden Malt's particular business area is grain and seed products processed through germination. The joint production company of Golden Malt and Trans Farm will start in early 2022 an industrial scale germinated hemp seed production in Oitti, Finland. www.goldenmalt.fi.

The Healthy Grain

The Healthy Grain specialises in commercialising unique, non-GM, nutritionally superior wholegrains, with substantiated health claim benefits to enhance the health and wellbeing of people across the globe. The suite of grains within The Healthy Grain’s portfolio is protected internationally by trademarks and patents. The Healthy Grain is jointly owned by CSIRO, Australian Capital Ventures Limited (ACVL – a Canberra-based venture capital company), and Teijin Limited of Japan. www.thehealthygrain.com

Kielo Growth

Kielo Growth is a 100% privately owned startup investor, business community and angel investor family, with their main purpose to create new business ventures in the Greater Oulu Area and the entire Northern Finland. Kielo is an active participant in Oulu’s startup ecosystem supporting startups and growth business ventures in the area with a special intrest in startups impacting UNSDGs.

ABB has been announced as the main automation and electrification contractor for South American barley malting company Maltería Oriental SA (MOSA) as it extends operations and looks to significantly reduce raw water consumption.

• ABB secures contract with Uruguay’s first and largest malting company Maltería Oriental SA (MOSA)
• Global technology leader ABB now responsible for automation and electrification as plant increases process production from 140,000 to 220,000 tons of barley malt per year
• ABB’s solutions will support resources efficiencies at the plant, including up to 70 percent water recycling

From its plant located to the north of Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo, MOSA plans to expand its production capacity by using fully automated operations and high technological standards overall. The malt producer and trader supplies to Brazil’s renowned breweries, which can use up the plant’s entire stock when demand is high, but also across the continent and occasionally to Europe.

To support MOSA’s production target of 220,000 tons of barley malt per year, ABB will expand the process control system and update to ABB Ability™ System 800xA version 6.1. This will shorten project execution time, enable greater scalability and enhance flexibility and efficient engineering. ABB’s engineers will also work closely with the customer on communication network improvements and electrical integration of the medium voltage (MV) network.

Aligning with the requirement for automated functionality, ABB will include production data recording and analysis and a centralized control room for several production units. This will help to minimize human intervention on the plant floor. Increased cyber security assurances come from improved network switches with better network management capabilities.

MOSA, which was established more than 85 years ago, was Uruguay’s first malting house and from its strategically important location within striking distance of farms and the port, has become the largest. A process water recycling facility was added to reduce raw water consumption by up to 70 percent.

“Our requirements to expand production operations while balancing resources usage, including water, and create a more efficient and safer working environment is a challenging mission,” said Martin Uhlig, Plant Manager, Maltería Oriental SA. “We have selected ABB as they are not only a long-term and trusted partner, but also for the company’s capabilities, through automation and electrification technology advancements, to integrate all parts of our plant and help deliver results for increased production. We look forward to continuing our journey together.”

“Many food and beverage customers are operating with tight margins and at maximum capacity, but as ABB we have an opportunity through our technologies to enable better, more informed decision making,” said Javier Román, Project Operations Manager, ABB. “We’re confident that by working with Maltería Oriental SA we can use our process control system and associated improvements to empower their business growth, as well as achieve their quality and environment goals.”

ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a leading global technology company that energizes the transformation of society and industry to achieve a more productive, sustainable future. By connecting software to its electrification, robotics, automation and motion portfolio, ABB pushes the boundaries of technology to drive performance to new levels. With a history of excellence stretching back more than 130 years, ABB’s success is driven by about 105,000 talented employees in over 100 countries.

ABB’s Process Automation business is a leader in automation, electrification and digitalization for the process and hybrid industries. We serve our customers with a broad portfolio of products, systems, and end-to-end solutions, including our #1 distributed control system, software, and lifecycle services, industry-specific products as well as measurement and analytics, marine and turbocharging offerings. As the global #2 in the market, we build on our deep domain expertise, diverse team and global footprint, and are dedicated to helping our customers increase competitiveness, improve their return on investment and run safe, smart, and sustainable operations.

OPTIMA collaborates with LANCOM Systems to develop a novel VPN solution for machines

The Optima Group from Schwaebisch Hall, Germany, has joined forces with cybersecurity specialist LANCOM Systems to develop a new type of VPN solution for machines and systems. As a result, it is now possible to establish an even more secure connection with the systems installed at the customer's site and maintain them remotely. The solution, which is the only one of its kind on the market, allows for VPN connections monitoring, protects the machine network at the customer's site with a firewall and is particularly user-friendly.  

Markus Irle, Vice President Firewall & Security at LANCOM Systems, and Dr. Eng. Benjamin Haefner, Group Leader Industrial IT at Optima, presenting the new VPN solution. (Source: Optima. All photos were taken in compliance with the strictest infection control measures.)

"With LANCOM Systems, we have found the ideal partner to take our cybersecurity to the next level," says Dr. Eng. Benjamin Haefner, Group Leader Industrial IT at Optima. In the future, every machine built by the special-purpose machine manufacturer will be equipped with an edge firewall from LANCOM that has been specially developed for Optima. "In addition to the highest security VPN routing functionality, the edge firewall functions as a kind of central doorman in the machine. As a result, uncoordinated data flows with potential risks can be systematically reduced and controlled," explains Haefner.

Unparalleled functionalities for maximum security

In addition, the VPN connection between Optima and the machines at the customer's site can be permanently monitored with what is known as a central firewall. "These functionalities are one-of-a-kind on the market and ensure maximum IT security," says Haefner. The structure of the entire VPN solution is strictly aligned with standards relevant to cybersecurity, such as IEC 62443 or CPwE reference architecture.

With the new VPN connection and its special security features, Optima and LANCOM Systems offer Optima’s customers a particularly secure and user-friendly solution. In the future, every machine manufactured by this special-purpose machine builder will be equipped with it. (Source: Optima)

User friendliness increases IT security

The LANCOM solution is also user-friendly and easy to operate. In addition, the automated solution can be configured for the customer's network faster than previous applications. There is plenty of freedom for making flexible adjustments to the customer's individual IT infrastructure, which facilitates harmonious integration. Retrofitting can be carried out on existing machines at any time. "Usability is a particularly important issue for us," adds Markus Irle, Vice President Firewall & Security at LANCOM Systems. "This is because a large proportion of cybersecurity incidents are due to errors in use, not the security technologies themselves." Such a challenge can be overcome by making the system less complex. The development partnership with LANCOM Systems is part of an extensive series of measures Optima has taken to further enhance cybersecurity.

Highly respected manufacturer of secure, reliable and future-proof network and security solutions

High-tech in action: An Optima employee checks the correct configuration of the VPN solution using a tablet. (Source: Optima) Based in Wuerselen, Germany, LANCOM Systems is a highly respected manufacturer of secure, reliable and future-proof network and security solutions (WAN, LAN, WLAN & firewalls) for business and government. For the fifth time in a row, the German network infrastructure provider has topped the Professional User Rating Security Solutions (PUR-S) user survey conducted by the analyst firm techconsult and boasts an excellent reputation among experts. LANCOM Systems is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Rohde & Schwarz technology group.

More information: www.optima-packaging.com/cybersecurity

About OPTIMA

Optima supports companies worldwide with flexible and customer-specific filling and packaging machines for pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, paper hygiene and medical devices markets. As a provider of solutions and systems, Optima accompanies these companies from the product idea through to successful production and throughout the entire machine life cycle. Over 2,650 experts around the globe contribute to Optima's success. 19 locations in Germany and abroad ensure the worldwide availability of services.

At the UN Climate Change Conference COP26, the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) announced an expansion of its coal phase-out initiative. DTEK was the first Ukrainian company to join the PPCA initiative, uniting more than 165 members. The company aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040 and supports the global fight against climate change.

The world has entered a new phase of the energy transition in which the widespread use of renewable energy sources will gradually replace fossil fuels. The International Energy Agency plan to avoid the worst effects of climate change means all countries and companies need to stop building coal-fired power plants now, and OECD countries need to phase out existing power plants by 2030, with the rest of the world following by 2040.

“This is what society demands and the reality of what we need to do to accelerate the transition to a carbon-free future. DTEK is investing in the construction of SPP and WPP, energy storage systems, modernization of electric grids, and is exploring the possibilities of hydrogen production,” said Dmytro Sakharuk, Executive Director of DTEK, “At the same time, DTEK's goal is to preserve the production potential of existing enterprises, creating a new niche for them in the transforming electricity market. It is important that the energy transition in Ukraine takes place while taking into account the economic and social realities in the coal regions.”

Since2020, DTEK Energy, due to the lack of new reserves suitable for efficient coal mining, has been gradually ending the operation of mines. At the same time, the company is helping the communities where the coal mining enterprises operate to develop a roadmap for creating employment outside the industry. Successful transformation of Ukraine’s coal regions is possible with the active involvement of the state, businesses, and international partners.

The PPCA is an initiative by the UK and Canadian governments that began at the COP23 in November 2017. Countries that have already joined include Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Italy and Spain. Companies that joined earlier include Unilever, Electricité de France (EDF), Engie, Iberdrola and the Virgin Group.

The PPCA and its members are committed to working together to increase support for the coal transition, especially in developing countries, bringing new and existing finance to bear, driving a just transition founded on credible social dialogue, and working with our members to develop and share practical solutions.

DTEK is the leading and biggest private investor in Ukraine’s energy sector.

DTEK’s companies are involved in coal and natural gas extraction; electricity generation from wind, solar, and thermal power plants; energy resources trading in national and international markets; distributing and supplying electricity to consumers; providing energy efficiency services to customers; and developing high-speed charging station networks.

According to the new 2030 strategy, DTEK seeks to transform into a more efficient, eco-friendly and technologically-advanced company, guided by ESG principles. DTEK routinely uses novel, innovative technologies in its activities, cultivates new areas of focus for business, and continues to work towards achieving the sustainable development of Ukraine’s society.

DTEK's goal is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040.

The company employs 60,000 people. Moreover, DTEK and its companies have been recognized as Ukraine’s best employers by EY, the international auditing company, and Ukrainian business publications.

In 2020, DTEK's capital investments amounted to UAH 12bn, with tax deductions at UAH 21bn.

The company is fully-owned by SCM Limited. The final beneficiary is Rinat Akhmetov.          

Watson-Marlow is pleased to announce that construction began in October 2021, on a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in the United States, with first production due in late 2022. Following an announcement made earlier this year, the Company is pleased to provide further details about the new facility which will be dedicated to its range of industry leading products, including peristaltic pumps, tubing, fluid path solutions and BioPure components.

Part of Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc, a FTSE100 Company, Watson-Marlow specializes in high-quality fluid management solutions for the life sciences and process industries. This significant investment in the expansion of its manufacturing capacity will support the Company’s future growth in the Americas. 

Located in Devens, Massachusetts, USA, the 150,000 square foot (14,000 square metres) facility will be close to the life sciences hub in the Cambridge/Boston area. The site will incorporate a suite of eight ISO14644-1 Class 7 cleanrooms, warehousing and offices, with space for two further cleanrooms within the initial footprint. With segregated cleanroom and non-cleanroom production capabilities, Watson-Marlow’s new U.S. facility will strengthen the support the Company provides to customers in the region across its core sectors of pharmaceutical and biotechnology, medical diagnostics, and process industries. 

“The new U.S. facility is an important milestone in the Watson-Marlow company history and marks a significant commitment to serving our customers in the Americas region.” Says Andrew Mines, Watson-Marlow Managing Director, “This exciting development is bringing us closer to our customers whose purpose is to help the world around us, from advancing cell and gene therapies through to ensuring people have access to clean drinking water. Together we will continue to develop market-leading fluid management solutions to engineer a more sustainable future. A huge thanks goes to the Watson-Marlow, BioPure, Americas and Watson-Marlow Central Support teams that are making this happen, as well as to our parent Company, Spirax-Sarco Engineering who have enabled us to make such a significant investment in our future.”

Watson-Marlow is an award-winning employer and this new facility will bring significant job opportunities to the local area, with over 150 positions coming available. Production at the new facility will replicate that of Watson-Marlow’s European sites, ensuring continued product quality for customers, by using the same raw materials, components, processes and work instructions. Completion of the facility is due in late 2022, with the first products due to be shipped from the site in late Q4.

Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group (WMFTG) is the world leader in peristaltic pumps and associated fluid path technologies. The Group comprises ten established brands, each with their own area of expertise. Together they provide leading engineering solutions across the food, pharmaceutical, chemical and environmental industries.

WMFTG is headquartered in the United Kingdom with international operations in 44 countries and employing over 1750 people globally.

Watson-Marlow is a wholly owned subsidiary of multi-national industrial engineering Group, Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc, a constituent of the FTSE 100, with strategically located manufacturing plants around the world and over 8,200 employees, including 1,950 direct sales and service engineers.  

As a leading engineering group, we have an ethical responsibility to manage our economic, environmental and social impacts, while helping our customers and suppliers to do the same. In August this year, WMFTG committed to achieving net zero carbon by 2030.

Further information can be found at www.wmftg.com

Metso Outotec is investing in the development of its service capabilities in Australia with a new service center in the Pilbara region. The planned Pilbara service center underlines Metso Outotec’s commitment to deliver high-level services to its mining and aggregates customers, with the facility delivering enhanced productivity and shorter lead time in the region.

The construction work will begin as soon as the acquisition of the land and planning of the facility, currently subject to customary authority approvals and conditions, has been completed. Construction is planned to be completed by the end of 2022.

The location of the center will provide the agile delivery of equipment repairs, act as a base for field services, and hold inventory for customer-critical wear and spare parts. The Pilbara service center is expected to employ around 40 skilled personnel from the local communities, including service engineers and experts. The service center will handle equipment including crushers, mills, screens and car dumper repairs, as well as a customer training facility.

“The new facility location has been chosen to provide enhanced local support to our customers in the Pilbara region and represents our long-term commitment in Australia. Our customers will now have even better access to services, repairs, parts, and technical expertise to maximize their operations’ performance”, says Stuart Sneyd, President for Metso Outotec in Asia Pacific.

Martin Karlsson, Senior Vice President, Professional Services, adds: “The facility complements our global network of service centers. We will provide our customers with strong operational support and leading process knowledge to deliver high performance and safety standards for an exceptional customer experience.” 

The center also supports its customers’ sustainability commitments by delivering environmentally-efficient technologies and services. Metso Outotec has high sustainability targets in its own operations and supply chain. It is committed to reducing CO2 emissions from its own operations by 50% by 2024 and targets net-zero emissions by 2030. 

Metso Outotec has an extensive footprint of over 3000 field services professionals and additional support resources close to customer operations. In Australia, the company employs approximately 900 people serving mining, metals, and aggregates customers.

Further information, please contact:

Stuart Sneyd, President, Asia Pacific market area, Metso Outotec, tel. + 61 8 9420 5500, email: stuart.sneyd(at)mogroup.com

Helena Marjaranta, Vice President, Communications and Brand, Metso Outotec, Tel. +358 20 484 3212, email: helena.marjaranta(at)mogroup.com

Metso Outotec is a frontrunner in sustainable technologies, end-to-end solutions and services for the aggregates, minerals processing and metals refining industries globally. By improving our customers’ energy and water efficiency, increasing their productivity, and reducing environmental risks with our product and process expertise, we are the partner for positive change.  

Metso Outotec is committed to limiting global warming to 1.5°C with Science Based Targets. We ranked 8th on the 2021 Global 100 list of the world’s most sustainable companies.

Headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, Metso Outotec employs over 15,000 people in more than 50 countries and its sales for 2020 were about EUR 3.9 billion. The company is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki. mogroup.com

The Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate) – a major new initiative led by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and United States (US) with the support of over 30 governments – officially launched on 02 November and announced an “early harvest” of $4 billion of increased investment to accelerate innovation for climate-smart agriculture and food systems over the next five years.

• The Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate) officially launched at COP26, backed by 30+ countries and 40+ non-governmental organizations
• AIM for Climate seeks to increase global investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation to increase food security and tackle the climate crisis

The initiative, launched as part of the World Leaders’ Summit at the 26^th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), aims to increase and accelerate agricultural and food systems innovation in support of climate action.  While farmers and ranchers around the world face the impacts of climate change on a daily basis, nearly 25 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture. AIM for Climate is focused on enabling innovation investment in a sector that employs over 2 billion people and feeds the world’s growing population.

AIM for Climate’s diverse list of supporters include over 30 countries from six continents including the recent addition of Azerbaijan, Canada, and the United Kingdom, as well as numerous other non-governmental agencies.  

John Kerry, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, said: “The United States is proud to be launching the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate initiative alongside the United Arab Emirates and over 80 partners across the globe. Investment in climate-smart agriculture innovation is critical to addressing the climate crisis. Innovation can reduce emissions, feed the world’s growing population, and help farmers and ranchers mitigate and adapt to climate change. AIM for Climate has an impressive start, garnering $4 billion in increased investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation thus far, but together AIM for Climate partners can and must do more to catalyze even greater investment in the years ahead.  I look forward to seeing what AIM for Climate can accomplish and encourage more to join this effort.”

His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change and UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, said: “AIM for Climate is focusing on a sector that has been previously overlooked in terms of the opportunities it offers for global climate action. This initiative demonstrates the UAE’s holistic and inclusive approach to climate action, which characterizes our offer to host COP28. The United Arab Emirates has already driven change in the energy sector through green innovation and growth, investing over $17 billion in clean energy around the world. AIM for Climate is a smart extension of that investment strategy.” 

Her Excellency Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, said: “A major part of the climate challenge revolves around food and agriculture. When we consider that about a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, and the world’s growing population is increasingly dependent on climate-vulnerable food production, we can see the urgency of driving investments in agricultural innovation and R&D. AIM for Climate is the kind of bold move towards accelerating the global food systems transformation that we need, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 and eradicate world hunger by 2030. The initiative will go a long way in mobilizing a global movement to strengthen food security, transform our food systems into more sustainable ones and mitigate climate change.”

“The climate crisis threatens to disrupt food systems around the globe, exacerbate food insecurity and negatively impact farmers’ livelihoods. We must invest in innovative, science-based solutions to help agriculture mitigate and adapt to climate change – and that’s what AIM for Climate is all about,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. “We welcome our newest AIM for Climate supporters and urge additional nations and organizations to join us in this global effort to accelerate agricultural innovation through increased investment in research and development.”

AIM for Climate partners intend to catalyze greater public and private sector investment in, and other support for, climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation to help to raise global ambition and underpin more rapid and transformative climate action in all countries, including by enabling science-based and data-driven decision and policy-making. AIM for Climate partners are committing to significantly increase total investment in agricultural innovation by 2025 versus the 2020 baseline.

AIM for climate seeks to enable ambitious investment in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation to help create a surge of solutions, enabling the world to meet nutritional needs, increase agricultural productivity, improve livelihoods, conserve nature and biodiversity, build resilience to climate change, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and sequester carbon.

About AIM for Climate

The Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate / AIM4C) is a joint initiative created by the United States and the United Arab Emirates. AIM for Climate seeks to address the climate crisis by uniting participants to significantly increase and accelerate investment in and/or other support for climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovation over the next five years (2021 – 2025).

AIM for Climate seeks to drive more rapid and transformative climate action in the agricultural sector, empowering agriculture to be part of the solution to address the climate crisis, build resilience to its impacts, and create co-benefits of climate action. Diversity, gender equity, and inclusion are critical to the success of the mission. AIM for Climate recognizes the wide range of participants necessary to achieve its goal and seeks to draw on diverse knowledge, experiences, and cultures.

The Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (AIM for Climate) is a joint initiative by the UAE and the US, with endorsement from the UK’s COP26 Presidency.  The countries participating in AIM for Climate include Australia, Azerbaijan, the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, Georgia, Ghana, Honduras, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Lithuania, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Romania, Singapore, Sweden, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, United Kingdom, Uruguay and Vietnam.

Participation in AIM for Climate is voluntary.

Hoogstraten is putting sustainability first by using recycled carton punnets for their premium strawberries, which are available all year round and supplied directly to the UK.

Coöperatie Hoogstraten has switched to carton punnets for their standard strawberry packaging, making a big step in reducing plastic waste, as the new carton punnet is made from more than 90% recycled carton, and is also recyclable.

The mission statement of Hoogstraten is "Together shaping a sustainable future in fresh fruit and vegetables through craftsmanship and high-quality services". They pride themselves on producing strawberries that are globally renowned for their flavour and quality. The cooperative is based near Antwerp. Throughout October and November, Belgium is the main source of strawberries in Europe.

Synnøve Johansson, Business Development Manager at Hoogstraten, says: “An additional benefit of the new carton punnet is the labour costs that are reduced for our growers. Our new machinery assembles each punnet and places them in a pre-assembled carton pallet, ready to be sent to the grower. This is a helpful tool that is now more useful than ever, as it simplifies the process and saves additional labour for when it comes to picking and packing the fruit.”

Packaging material remains one of the largest contributors to the cooperative’s CO2 footprint. Because of this, Hoogstraten are working with their carton punnet supplier to see how they can jointly further improve this impact in the future.

Johansson adds: “Due to their delicate nature, strawberries are unlikely to be sold loose, and so deciding on the most suitable and sustainable packaging is not always a simple choice. We have invested in an LCA tool to assist us in our evaluation of different packaging options, as it is about more than just reducing our environmental impact or using recycled plastic.

“Other practical factors also need to be considered when it comes to packaging, such as the raw material used, food safety concerns and the shelf life of the product.

• The UK promotional campaign is run by Coöperatie Hoogstraten.
• Hoogstraten is the cooperative specialising in fruits, with a passion for quality.
• The main strawberry varieties grown by Hoogstraten are:

• Elsanta: Red and tasty, accounts for most of the strawberries marketed by Hoogstraten
• Sonata: Fresh red, round and sweet. Perfect for enlightened crop in winter and very successful in spring.
• Sonsation: Sweet with an intensive gloss. Looks like Sonata, but the red colour appears to be more intense.
• Limalexia: Fruits with a pleasant texture and excellent taste. Looks like Elsanta, but the fruit size throughout the growing season is better maintained.
• Murano: Everbearer with appearance of a June bearer.
• All strawberries sold at Hoogstraten are grown locally in Belgium, or just across the border in the south Netherlands.
• Strawberries account for approximately 50% of Hoogstraten’s turnover.
• Every year approximately one third of the strawberry volumes are sold domestically, while two thirds are exported, to the UK and other markets. From September through to mid-December around 80% of Hoogstraten’s volumes are exported.
• The UK marketing campaign for Hoogstraten strawberries began in September this year.
• Scandinavia, UK and France are the largest export market for Belgian strawberries, due to the market favouring fresh products.

During a COP26 event, Alfa Laval was announced as the first company to officially join ABB’s newly launched energy efficiency movement, a multi-stakeholder initiative to raise awareness of the benefits of energy efficiency solutions to accelerate the transition towards decarbonization.

ABB, a leading global technology company, launched its #energyefficiencymovement in March 2021 to initiate action to reduce energy consumption as this is the most efficient way to cut carbon emissions and combat climate change. Alfa Laval shares ABB’s vision.  

Energy efficiency can deliver a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of more than 40 percent over the next 20 years according to the IEA (International Energy Agency), with 50 percent of that reduction coming from the industrial sector. Alfa Laval’s compact plate heat exchanger technology is 20-50 percent more energy efficient than conventional technology. Driving plate heat exchanger implementation through partnerships is one of the company’s main ambitions that can accelerate the transition towards more responsible energy supply. In addition, Alfa Laval continuously works to improve its own processes, in production, service and products and has set the target of improving energy efficiency (MWh/Direct hours) by 5 percent by 2023 compared to 2020.

“We are very happy to join this important movement. Our innovative and proven solutions make a big difference. The challenge is to change the norms and drive the implementation of the technology in a wider and broader scale together with partners,” says Thomas Møller, President of the Energy Division at Alfa Laval.

Morten Wierod, President of ABB Motion comments: “Alfa Laval’s commitment is inspiring and makes a real difference as businesses strive to help humanity reach a net-zero future.”

Did you know… Every year, Alfa Laval heat exchangers installed in energy efficiency applications save 50GW, equivalent to the energy needed to heat up 10 million homes in Europe. They also reduce carbon emissions by 25 million tons yearly, which is as much as the emissions from the city of Paris.

ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a leading global technology company that energizes the transformation of society and industry to achieve a more productive, sustainable future. By connecting software to its electrification, robotics, automation and motion portfolio, ABB pushes the boundaries of technology to drive performance to new levels. With a history of excellence stretching back more than 130 years, ABB’s success is driven by about 105,000 talented employees in over 100 countries. www.abb.com

This is Alfa Laval

Alfa Laval is a world leader in heat transfer, centrifugal separation and fluid handling, and is active in the areas of Energy, Marine, and Food & Water, offering its expertise, products, and service to a wide range of industries in some 100 countries. The company is committed to optimizing processes, creating responsible growth, and driving progress to support customers in achieving their business goals and sustainability targets.

Alfa Laval’s innovative technologies are dedicated to purifying, refining, and reusing materials, promoting more responsible use of natural resources. They contribute to improved energy efficiency and heat recovery, better water treatment, and reduced emissions. Thereby, Alfa Laval is not only accelerating success for its customers, but also for people and the planet. Making the world better, every day.

Alfa Laval has 16,700 employees. Annual sales in 2020 were SEK 41.5 billion (approx. EUR 4 billion). The company is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm.