Installing an energy management system at its bean roastery has cut the coffee firm's energy bills by £50,000 a year and reduced its carbon emissions by one-third
Coffee company Costa has confirmed that adopting a management system approach to its energy use and gaining certification against the international standard ISO 50001 has enabled it to drive down the carbon intensity of its coffee.
The Whitbread-owned firm produces 6.5 tonnes of coffee annually from its London coffee bean roastery. Since certifying the Lambeth site against 50001 in January 2012, Costa has cut energy use at the site by more than 16%, generating an annual saving of £50,000 on utility bills and cutting the amount of carbon produced per tonne of coffee by 32%.
Gaurang Mehta, quality and safety manager at Costa, confirmed that by monitoring its energy usage more closely the firm has been able to optimise how it uses its manufacturing equipment.
“Certifying against 50001 required going back to basics and asking where and why procedures were in place, before addressing what could be done differently,” he said. “We looked at every piece of equipment and how it was used in the manufacturing process, and this enabled us to identify which areas we should focus on improving first.
“As a result, we were able to use less energy despite increasing the amount of coffee we were producing per operator hour.”
Other initiatives inspired by the energy management system included installing voltage management units, replacing the site’s air compressor – which cut energy consumption by 20% – and revitalising its campaign to engage employees with saving energy.
Oliver Rosevear, energy and environment manager at Costa, confirmed that the system had also helped the firm to avoid spending £150,000 on equipment upgrades.
A video on Costa's experiences of adopting 50001 is available at nqa.com
