The Yealands Wine Group (Yealands) from Marlborough has recently been re-certified by Enviro-Mark Solutions as New Zealand’s sole carboNZeroCertTM wine producer.
Yealands has held this certification since inception in 2008. Sustainability manager Tara Smith says, “we are delighted to be re-certified as part of our ongoing sustainability focus. This provides independent endorsement that allows our team to talk to our global customers about the carbon neutral status of our wines with confidence.”
The carboNZero product certification process involves an external audit of the company’s greenhouse gas emissions arising from their full production and distribution chain up to and including disposal of packaging in market. For certification Yealands must demonstrate it is reducing its carbon footprint annually, with any “unavoidable” emissions being offset with the purchase of registered carbon credits.
The recent audit showed a reduction of 21% in the intensity of company’s emissions, with key gains being made in the areas of product transportation and energy efficiency. Smith says: “Whilst the company has made strong progress in recent times, including the addition of a purpose-built composting facility, the company is targeting some significant gains in energy utilisation, reduction in fuel emissions and general gains across the supply chain.”
In addition to the carboNZero certification, Yealands also is accredited under the European “Green Mark” programme and ISO 14001, the international standard for Environmental Management Systems.
