To help dairy companies better quantify their achievements in sustainability, IDFA and other members of the Dairy Sustainability Alliance are working with the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy to provide guidance for tracking and measuring emissions of greenhouse gasses at dairy processing facilities. Two updated documents that provide a standard of measurement to assist dairy companies in meeting and exceeding their sustainability goals will be available this summer.

“Dairy companies are committed to continuous improvement of sustainable practices in their facilities, and it is important for the industry to recognize these gains through a uniform system and be able to communicate these improvements to consumers,” said Emily Lyons, IDFA director of regulatory affairs and counsel. Lyons represents IDFA on the Dairy Sustainability Alliance.

Updates will be made to the, “Stewardship and Sustainability Framework for U.S. Dairy” which standardizes sustainability goals and progress in the dairy industry, and the Processor Handbook, which provides guidance to dairy foods companies for assessing the sustainability of their operations. It also highlights responsible management practices and demonstrates the industry’s commitment to continuous improvement using the indicators and metrics defined in the framework.

The Dairy Sustainability Alliance is a multi-stakeholder group of representatives from across the dairy community, including farmers, processors, manufacturers, retailers and representatives from nonprofits, trade organizations, government and academia. Learn more here.

For more information, contact Lyons at elyons@idfa.org.