The members of the European starch industry association (Association des Amidonniers et Féculiers - AAF) extract starch, proteins, fibres and lipids from cereal grains and starch potatoes and process them into a wide range of products for :

- Food,

- Feed, and,

- Non-food applications.

The starch industry is committed to taking responsible actions to respect the environment. To meet this objective, it combines efficient production with effective environment protection practices, by using:

• Effective internal and/or recognized management systems, such as ISO 14000, EMAS, ISO 15000, ISO 50 001.
• BREF/Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Documents implemented by the starch industry.

In this context, the starch industry's daily business integrates :

Prevention of pollution.

• The starch industry monitors the emissions of greenhouse gases and the nuisances caused by odours, noise and particulate emissions, with the aim to reduce them. It also limits the impact on the environment of the treated wastewater by implementing appropriate wastewater treatment practices.

Preservation of water and energy.

• The starch industry continuously aims at reducing its consumption of water and energy. The use of Combined Heat and Power generation (CHP or cogeneration) is widespread in the industry.

Optimisation of renewable resources by appropriate use, re-use, recycling and recovery of materials and products.

• The starch industry recovers all the raw material components and minimises waste by prevention. The final waste streams are valorised as much as possible.

Environmental objectives into planning and business operations.

• The starch industry complies with European and Member States regulatory and legislative requirements and permits.

Awareness of industry’s environmental performances and issues through working constructively with customers, authorities, relevant local bodies and general public.

• The starch industry maintains a pro-active and constructive relationship with all stakeholders.

Full awareness of employees, contractors and suppliers of AAF member companies on the role they have to play in reducing environmental impact of processes, services and products.

• Starch companies organise training courses for all those involved in the production chain to improve their knowledge of all environmental impacts and issues.

Assessment of environmental impacts.

• After a first study dated 2001, the AAF published, in August 2012, an EU wide sectorial life cycle assessment of its products, covering the carbon footprint, water depletion and the agricultural land occupation. Please find here the summary report of the study[1].

Download the PDF statement here