New manufacturing process developed to cut energy and water use in clean label starch range by a third, and 99.9% of site waste being used beneficially

Tate & Lyle PLC (Tate & Lyle), a world leader in ingredient solutions for healthier food and beverages, is working to deliver on its environmental commitments, as demonstrated by strong progress at its facility in Koog aan de Zaan (Koog) in the Netherlands on water use, waste management and carbon emissions reduction.

More sustainably made ingredients

Engineers at Koog have adapted the production process for Tate & Lyle’s CLARIA^® Clean Label Functional Starches, the hero brand in its texturants portfolio, to lower the product line’s carbon footprint and water use by 34% and 35% respectively¹. CLARIA^® is a corn-based starch used in products such as beverages, soups, sauces, and dressings, providing texture, viscosity, and gelling benefits, amongst others. The production efficiencies, which do not affect the ingredient’s functionality, will be implemented globally for all Tate & Lyle’s CLARIA^® production, with the more sustainably made product line available to food and beverage customers in limited supply from early next year. From early 2025, all CLARIA^® will be made using the more sustainable method developed at Koog under the new CLARIA^® G brand, with test samples available soon.

This production enhancement at Koog, which also purchases 100% renewable electricity, supports Tate & Lyle’s efforts to deliver on its science-based target to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions² by 30% by 2030, and to achieve net zero by 2050. This innovation also brings Tate & Lyle one step closer to achieving its target of reducing water use by 15% by 2030.

Beneficially using all waste

The team at Koog has also recently hit a major waste management milestone by finding a beneficial use for 99.9% of site waste, including providing waste water sludge, organic matter that comes from the corn wet milling process, as nutrients for the animals and land of local farms. This work contributes to Tate & Lyle’s target to beneficially use 100% of the waste it generates globally by 2030

Paul Clarijs, Plant Manager at Koog aan de Zaan, Tate & Lyle, said: “Finding innovative ways to care for our planet is something our workforce cares deeply about. We operate a continuous improvement mindset and are pleased to have developed new ways of working at Koog that will inspire each Tate & Lyle site on their sustainability journey and provide benefits to our wider network.”

Coralie Falize, Innovation Lead for Texturants at Tate & Lyle, said: “By continuing to expand our texturant portfolio, including diversifying our raw materials, we are building our knowledge of production enhancement that help us and our customers to meet ambitious environmental commitments. Our next generation CLARIA^®C, LARIA^® G, has the same functionality as the existing product line that our customers know and love but with stronger sustainability credentials.”

Anna Pierce, Director of Sustainability at Tate & Lyle, said: “This new, more sustainable process for CLARIA^® production will help us increase capacity over time and provide customers with the more sustainable products they are looking for as we partner to tackle the biggest challenge facing society, the climate crisis.”