Grupo Bimbo disclosed today its achievements in reducing the environmental footprint of its operations during 2013, as well as the update of its short and medium term goals in sustainability.

In the framework of the World Environment Day, celebrated in more than 100 countries this year, the world’s leading baking company pointed out that, advancing its 2015 goal, has achieved the 14% reduction in water consumption along its production process. Besides, 93% of the operation’s residues are recycled, allowing the company to focus on strengthen environmental projects with its suppliers.

These results complement the sustainable cycle of Grupo Bimbo’s operations through the “Planet” pillar, the environmental branch of the Social Responsibility program “Sembrando Juntos”, with which the company has designed many of its strategic and business decisions.

Ing. Rosalío Rodríguez, VP of Sustainability of Grupo Bimbo, highlighted the results attained by the organization’s sustainable projects, emphasizing the articulation between the generation of renewable energy and the development of a non-polluting technology for some of the company’s distribution vehicles.

“This project has many years of work and planning behind it. With the inauguration of the Piedra Larga wind farm in 2012, most of our operations in Mexico are supplied with renewable energy. This, in turn, allowed us to inaugurate, one year later, our first Ecological Sales Center located in downtown Mexico City, in order to contribute to the environmental and mobility challenges of this part of the city.”

The Piedra Larga wind farm and the Ecological Sales Center, together with the best practices aimed at reducing both electrical and thermal energy, prevented the company from producing more than 320 thousand tons of CO2 in 2013. This amount is equivalent to nine times the absorption capacity of the park “La Marquesa” located in the state of Mexico, pointed the executive.

The leadership shown by the company in this matter has been recognized during the past weeks both in Mexico and abroad. Grupo Bimbo received a reward for its participation in the GEI voluntary program, in recognition of its monitoring and reduction in greenhouse gas emissions actions, as well as the improvement in its carbon performance indicators. This award was created jointly by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) and the Study Commission of the Private Sector for Sustainable Development (CESPEDES).

Additionally, Daniel Servitje, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Grupo Bimbo, participated last week in the Fifth Assembly of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), an event that gathered global industrial and governmental leaders to share best practices in environmental initiatives.

Rosalío Rodríguez said that Grupo Bimbo has an important challenge ahead for the next years: to disseminate its best practices in sustainability along the value chain and to preserve positive figures in the 21 countries where it operates.