ST. LOUIS — Post Holdings Inc. cited “meaningful progress” in sustainability efforts in products, operations, sourcing and other areas for 2024.

In its 2024 Sustainability Report, St. Louis-based Post highlighted advances in sustainable packaging across its brands. For example, this year, Post Consumer Brands hit the 90% mark in the approximate weight of cereal packaging now made from recycled content or renewable resources and designed to be recyclable.

The company said it aims to reach 100% recyclable cereal packaging for Post Consumer Brands in fiscal 2025 and noted that it has cut overall packaging materials by nearly 2 million lbs over the past several years.

Post Holdings’ UK cereal brand Weetabix, meanwhile, has continued to promote sustainable packaging since achieving 100% recyclable packaging across all brands in late 2022. Efforts include lessening the coating thickness in the paper-wrap that protects Weetabix biscuits, for a 59% reduction in material used and a more than 200-tonne reduction in plastic annually, resulting in the wrap now being eligible for curbside recycling.

Weetabix also is testing an inner bag with 30% recycled content, which is slated to roll out across all cereal brands in fiscal 2025, and switching the supplier for board used for boxes from North America to Europe, along with carton flap designs that reduce material and glue.

More sustainable packaging efforts

Among other business unit packaging initiatives, private label food company 8th Avenue is piloting containers for peanut butter and pouches for granola, fruit and nuts that are made with a greater amount of post-consumer recycled content, as well as implementing How2Recycle labels. Foodservice supplier Michael Foods, specializing in egg and potato products, is shifting from white to kraft boxes, with Post Holdings noting that most of Michael Foods’ chip-board and corrugated boxes contain recycled content.

Also, US refrigerated foods brand Bob Evans Farms is testing sausage product trays that are more sustainable while upholding product safety and quality, according to Post.

“Each year we gain more insight into how to effectively pursue sustainability efforts across the organization,” said Nick Martin, vice president of corporate sustainability for Post Holdings.

Eco-friendly fleets

In transportation, Post said that this year it replaced 22% of its private fleet with new modern trucks with automatic transmissions. The change boosted miles per gallon 21% from 6.14 in fiscal 2022 to 7.45 in fiscal 2024, which lowered tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e) emissions by 27% from 22,317 in 2022 to 16,253 in 2024.

The company also cut carbon emissions from third-party logistics and transportation providers that it manages. Miles per gallon from these services, including intermodal and truckload, rose 6% from 6.73 to 7.16 in fiscal 2024, reducing MTCO2e by 18% from 177,567 in 2022 to 146,074 in 2024.

Cutting down GHG emissions

Post reported notable reductions in direct (Scope 1) and energy-related (Scope 2) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in fiscal 2024 in furtherance of its efforts to achieve a 30% reduction in GHG emissions from operations by 2030.

Compared with the fiscal 2020 goal baseline, the company said it has lowered Scope 1 and 2 GHG absolute emissions by 10% and emissions intensity by 21% as of phase three (2023-24) of its five-phase GHG 2030 Goal Roadmap.

To that end, purchased grid electricity fell 3% year over year for Post in 2024, while intensity decreased 11% versus the company’s fiscal 2020 baseline. Total energy consumption for 2024 came in at 2,445 million megawatt-hours (MWh), down 7% from a year earlier.

Post said it’s making progress toward its goal of a 30% reduction in Scope 3 (indirect) GHG emissions intensity from sourced ingredients and packaging by 2030. In addition, the Weetabix business has committed to the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) to set validated targets to become a net-zero business by 2050.

Purchased goods and services account for approximately 79% of Post’s Scope 3 GHG emissions, of which nearly three-quarters stem from agricultural-based ingredients and raw materials, according to the report. In its value chain, Post said it’s working to engage its top global ingredient and packaging suppliers — accounting for some 90% of spending — through two programs: CDP Supply Chain and Supplier Leadership on Climate Transition (Supplier LOCT).

Via CDP Supply Chain, Post requests annual GHG data and program information from suppliers. In 2024, 97% of participating suppliers provided Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions data. And through Supplier LOCT, the company’s suppliers receive direct mentoring, actionable instructions and tools to build internal capacity. Post sponsored instructional seminars on developing a GHG footprint, setting targets, adopting GHG abatement measures, procuring renewable energy and reporting progress.

Water conservation and waste reduction

Post said it has driven water conservation with a 10% decrease in total water use and a 21% reduction in water use intensity, compared with its fiscal 2020 baseline, through fiscal 2024.

The company, too, said recycling and reuse have fueled efforts to minimize waste. Though Post generated 2% more nonhazardous waste in fiscal 2024, it was able to recycle 3% more than in the previous year, yielding an overall diversion-from-landfill rate of 92%. The company said its two largest business units, Post Consumer Brands and Foodservice, achieved 95% and 93% landfill diversion rates, respectively, while Weetabix has been zero-waste since fiscal 2016.

Post’s waste reduction also includes efforts to eliminate food waste across product lifecycles, using an upcycle approach when food can’t be sold in the regular supply chain or donated. For example, the company said the Post Consumer Brands Niagara Falls plant has been zero-waste to landfill for almost a decade by ensuring waste is recycled, converted to energy or upcycled as animal feed on local farms. Several other Post Consumer Brands locations are nearing zero-waste as well, with 2% or less waste going to landfills in fiscal 2024, the company noted.

Also in fiscal 2024, Post North American operating companies donated more than 13 million lbs of food, up 13% from fiscal 2023.