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What is their environmental policy?

Kettleby Foods, like all other manufacturers, know that in providing their products to consumers they are using up non-renewable resources and contributing to the production of externalities. This has to be balanced with the necessity of providing its customers with a high quality product. The number of deliveries to and from the factory in relation to the intake and distribution of the products does have an impact on the roads, the use of fuel and the environment through pollution.

Kettleby Foods also use plastic trays, plastic film for covering them, cardboard for the sleeves and for the boxes prior to distribution to the depot. The packaging products are sourced from suppliers that demonstrate efficiency and maximise recycling techniques, but it is what is done with the waste products that is important as well as where it comes from and this is something that the firm is seeking to work on. Government legislation places a levy on the packaging that goes to the consumer - this has the impact of costing manufacturers more for packaging formats that are difficult to dispose of or have a higher impact on the environment.

On a similar theme, the Government introduced a climate change levy whereby a levy has to be paid by manufacturers for each unit of electricity or gas used in their production process. The manufacturers are also subject to extra cost if they cannot comply with improvements in energy efficiency of 20% over a 10 year period to 2010. This is part of a European energy initiative which originated from the Kyoto summit in 1997. For further information, see Background and Summary to the Climate Change Levy (http://www.climate-change-levy.info).

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