Environment minister Thérèse Coffey visited the British Sugar plant at Bury St Edmunds on Thursday to learn more about the way it handles its ‘waste’.
She was shown how stones are recycled for building materials and soil is used for landscaping as she toured the site.
Dr Mark Carr, group chief executive of AB Sugar, which owns the plant, said: “We are committed to reducing emissions, driving efficiency and improving productivity to make us a world-class sugar business.
“In the UK, we invest over £50m a year in our endeavours to do more with less. Our facilities at Bury are creating energy for our factory and the communities around us and we look forward to working with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to achieve similar resource efficiency projects in the future.”
Ms Coffey said the government hoped to make the UK companies the most resource efficient in the world.
“I’ve seen first-hand some of the excellent work to minimise waste and maximise the value of their resources at British Sugar, from reusing soil to delivering animal feed to farmers,” she said.
“We are working with new businesses to continue to find new and innovative ways to bring down costs, increase savings and minimise their carbon footprint - and I hope British Sugar can be an example for others to follow.”
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