The McCain Foods Timaru plant is doubling down on its climate targets by reducing its demand for heating fuel and eliminating its CO2 emissions generated by of the burning of coal.

In alignment with McCain’s objective of avoiding coal consumption by 2025, the Timaru plant is converting its boiler to operate from coal to domestically sourced woodchips, which will help McCain reduce its carbon emissions by approximately 30,000 tonnes per year.

Successful trials began in May 2021 in line with the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) requirements to prove the concept. Final commissioning will be completed by June 2022.

McCain Foods Engineering Project Manager Lenard Smythe said this joint initiative was a positive step forward and an opportunity for McCain to continue innovating to reduce its carbon footprint.

“It’s important for companies to take initiative and lead the way when it comes to climate action. It’s in our best interest to save our environment and continually improve our practices to reduce our impact in terms of emissions.

“The Boiler Conversion project is only one of many initiatives McCain is working on to achieve our sustainability targets,” Mr Smythe said.

In recognition of the project achievement in meeting the News Zealand Government’s sustainability objectives, McCain has been awarded GIDI (Government Investment in Decarbonising Industry) funding on a co-investment basis.

“Our positive relationship with the New Zealand Government on climate has positioned us well to keep leading in the space,” Mr Smythe said. The New Zealand Government will ban new coal boilers by 2022 and has proposed to phase out existing coal boilers by 2037.

McCain Timaru is also focused on recovering waste heat from the fryer for use elsewhere in the facility, which will further reduce total energy consumption by more than 37,000 GJ/year and reducing the fuel.

This recovery will support the general site steam demand which includes preheating boiler feed water, further reducing the fuel required to fire the boilers.

McCain Timaru continues to lead in sustainability and will continue to innovate and work with industry and government to produce high quality products with little impact.

McCain Foods McCain Foods Australia and New Zealand is a subsidiary of McCain Foods Limited that specialises in frozen potato products, vegetables, dinners, and pizza, for both the Retail and Foodservice sectors.

The company operates production facilities located on four sites across Australia and New Zealand.