The Syngenta Vegetable Seeds warehouse located in Somersby, NSW has received the highest National Australian Built Environmental Rating System (NABERS) energy rating available. The 6-star 'Market Leading' energy rating was also achieved at Syngenta ANZ office in Macquarie Park this year.
Syngenta's Vegetable Seeds warehouse is the first in the country to be audited against NABERS new energy audit protocol for warehouse and cold stores. The warehouse is used to store vegetable seeds under temperature and humidity control, until they are ready to be packed and distributed. NABERS new warehouse and cold stores audit framework requires detailed analysis into operational and quantitative data, and Syngenta ANZ's 6/6-star 'Market Leading' rating reflects high performance and positive environmental outcomes.
A number of sustainability initiatives undertaken by Syngenta ANZ teams contributed to the achievement of Syngenta ANZ's 'Market Leading' energy scores. This included energy audits, optimising equipment settings and replacing energy inefficient equipment with more efficient and sustainable alternatives, such as LED lighting, a variable speed compressor and EC fans. All Syngenta-managed sites across Australia and New Zealand use a 100% GreenPower.
The Syngenta Vegetable Seeds warehouse team are seeking to further reduce their environmental footprint by progressively switching to biodegradable packaging made from recycled materials, such as pallet stretch wrap made from potato starch.
Syngenta ANZ Health, Safety and Environment Manager, Mike Tremaine, says the partnership with NABERS and our energy auditors, Knight Frank, helps to support our ambitious emissions reduction target, provides us with an opportunity to benchmark against similar sites and identify opportunities for improvement.
"The recognition of the warehouse team's efforts to reduce our environmental footprint, via the six-star energy rating of market leading with GreenPower, is very rewarding," he said.
Syngenta's Managing Director and Country Head for ANZ, Paul Luxton said Syngenta is focused on improving sustainability in local operations, as well as contributing to emission reductions in the agriculture industry more broadly.
"Improving operational efficiency at our head office, Auckland office and our warehouse is part of Syngenta's continued focus on sustainable operations. Our teams are continually investigating additional projects to drive down our energy use and environmental footprint across the business that makes good business sense," he said.
These initiatives are part of Syngenta's Good Growth Plan, which includes several ambitious sustainability commitments, including reducing the carbon intensity of our operations by 50% by 2030, as validated and endorsed by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
