Where does food industry decarbonisation start in a plant?
With a map of the utilities: who uses steam, refrigeration, compressed air and electricity, at what temperature, at which point in the season. Food industry decarbonisation is won first in the boiler house and the refrigeration machine room, not in a headline target.
Our guide to industrial decarbonisation in Morocco compares sectors. This article works at the level of a single food site: a fish cannery, a dairy, a fruit and vegetable packing station, a biscuit plant or a temperature-controlled warehouse. The overall plan (target, trajectory, financing) is covered on our decarbonisation strategy page.
The project follows the sequence set out below: team, metering over a full season, heat-demand map, quantification of the ten levers, works scheduled on the off-season, annual follow-up.
The starting boundary is the plant: fuel combustion and refrigerant leaks (scope 1), purchased electricity (scope 2), then packaging and transport, which fall under scope 3. The reference measurement is a greenhouse gas inventory under ISO 14064-1:2018 — Greenhouse gases — Part 1: Specification with guidance at the organization level for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals (under revision: draft ISO/WD 14064-1.2 at stage 20.60 on iso.org as of 11 November 2026; the 2018 edition remains the reference). If you do not have one, start there: see carbon footprint under ISO 14064.
What data should a food plant collect?
Energy data by utility, output by product and by season, and the refrigerant register. These are what will prove, a year later, that a lever cut emissions and that the drop did not simply come from a poor harvest.
Data | Where to find it | What it is used for | Common pitfall |
|---|---|---|---|
Fuel per boiler (fuel oil, gas, propane, biomass) | Invoices, tank dips, meters | Scope 1, boiler-house efficiency | One meter for several boilers |
Steam produced and condensate return rate | Steam meter, feedwater tank readings | Network losses, recovery potential | Condensate return estimated, never measured |
Electricity per refrigeration plant and per air compressor | Sub-metering, supervision system | Scope 2, savings in refrigeration and compressed air | Refrigeration and process on the same feeder |
Temperatures and set points of cold rooms, tunnels and blast chillers | Supervision, quality data loggers | Adjust set points without food safety risk | Set points never reviewed since commissioning |
Refrigerant charge and recharges, unit by unit | Maintenance register, refrigeration contractor | Fugitive emissions (scope 1) | Recharges paid for but not recorded |
Output by product and by month | Production system | Intensity per tonne, effect of seasonality | Tonnes sold confused with tonnes produced |
Packaging by SKU (material, mass) | Specifications, purchasing | Scope 3, customers’ PPWR requirements | Secondary packaging mass forgotten |
Tonne-kilometres by mode, chilled or ambient | Freight forwarders, carriers | Scope 3 transport | Reefer legs counted as dry freight |
Seasonality is what sets the sector apart. A sardine cannery, a citrus packing station or a tomato paste plant runs flat out during the campaign, then slows down. To compare two years, express energy per tonne produced and, for refrigeration, relative to outdoor temperature. ISO 50006:2023 — Energy management systems — Evaluating energy performance using energy performance indicators and energy baselines (formerly ISO 50006:2014) gives the normalisation method.
The second tool is the heat-demand map: for each use (sterilisation, pasteurisation, cooking, blanching, clean-in-place, crate washing, domestic hot water), record the temperature actually required and the operating hours. It tells you how much heat could come from recovery, solar or a heat pump instead of the boiler.
What are the 10 decarbonisation levers of a food plant?
Three levers on steam, three on refrigeration, one on electricity, one on packaging and two on logistics. The table gives the scope and the evidence to keep for each one; no average saving is stated, because it depends on your site.
No. | Lever | Scope | Before-and-after evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Steam network: traps, leaks, insulation, condensate return | 1 | Fuel per tonne produced, condensate return rate |
2 | Boiler house: combustion tuning, economiser, right pressure, idle boilers shut down | 1 | Combustion analysis, measured efficiency |
3 | Low-temperature heat: recovery, solar thermal, heat pump | 1 and 2 | Heat-demand map, recovered energy metered |
4 | Refrigeration plant: set points, floating head pressure, variable speed drives, clean condensers, demand defrost | 2 | Refrigeration electricity per tonne or per pallet stored |
5 | Cold-room use: doors, airlocks, strip curtains, insulation, pre-cooling | 2 | Compressor running hours, temperatures held |
6 | Refrigerants: leak tightness, detection, substitution at renewal | 1 | Recharge register by unit |
7 | Renewable electricity sized on reduced consumption | 2 | Metered output, share of consumption covered |
8 | Packaging: mass, material, recyclability, product losses | 3 | Grams per unit sold, scrap rate |
9 | Transport: load factor, mode, carrier data | 3 | Emissions per tonne delivered under ISO 14083 |
10 | Cold-chain logistics: warehouses and truck refrigeration units | 1 or 3 | Warehouse electricity, unit recharges |
Steam: levers 1 to 3
A steam network loses energy wherever it is neither monitored nor insulated: traps stuck open, bare valves, condensate sent to drain. Traps and insulation are dealt with during the off-season shutdown; every unit of condensate returned is hot, treated water the boiler does not have to produce.
In the boiler house, have combustion analysed, shut down boilers kept hot “just in case”, and check that steam pressure is set by the most demanding need rather than by habit. The audit is framed by ISO 50002-1:2025 — Energy audits — Part 1: General requirements with guidance for use (formerly ISO 50002:2014) and ISO 50002-3:2025 for processes.
Lever 3 is often the most structural: part of the heat goes to washing or preheating water, at a temperature that recovery from refrigeration compressors, flue gases or condensate can supply. The rest can come from solar thermal or a heat pump, which prepares the electrification of heat at the next boiler replacement.
Refrigeration: levers 4 to 6
Refrigeration is often one of the largest electricity uses in a food plant: confirm it with your sub-metering. The first gains come from operation: set points reviewed with quality, condensing pressure that follows outdoor temperature, condensers cleaned before summer, defrost on demand, variable speed drives on compressors and fans.
How cold rooms are used matters as much as the machines: doors left open during loading, no airlocks, poorly insulated rooms, warm product loaded without pre-cooling. These actions cost little and show up in compressor running hours.
Refrigerants are a separate item: leaks are direct emissions, and some refrigerants have a high global warming potential. Keep a recharge register by unit, install leak detection, and study a lower-impact refrigerant (ammonia, CO2 or another) at every renewal, taking into account the safety requirements specific to each fluid.
Electricity: lever 7
Once refrigeration and compressed air are optimised, part of the remaining electricity can be generated on site under Law No. 82-21 on self-generation and its implementing Decree No. 2-25-100 of 5 March 2026 (Official Bulletin No. 7489 of 9 March 2026). Because surplus sold to the grid is capped at 20% of annual output, a seasonal plant sizes its installation on off-season consumption as much as on peak-season consumption. See our article on Law 82-21 and self-generation.
Packaging: lever 8
Packaging weighs in your scope 3 and in your customers’. Levers: less mass per unit sold, recyclable or mono-material structures, recycled content where food contact allows it (see recycled plastic in food contact). For exports to the EU, Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste (PPWR) has applied since 12 August 2026, with staggered obligations: see PPWR and packaging.
Count losses too: product destroyed at the end of the line takes with it the energy, packaging and agricultural raw material used to make it.
Logistics: levers 9 and 10
Transport is calculated per transport chain under ISO 14083:2023 — Greenhouse gases — Quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions arising from transport chain operations (formerly IWA 16:2015). Levers: truck and container load factor, mode, consolidated shipments, actual data from carriers. See our ISO 14083 guide.
Cold-chain logistics (refrigerated warehouses, trailer and reefer container units) falls under your scopes 1 and 2 if you operate it, and under scope 3 if you outsource it. Either way, ask for refrigerant recharges and energy consumption.
In what order should the plant run the project?
Meter during a season, act on operation and maintenance during the off-season, and keep heavy investment for equipment renewal. The farming calendar sets the pace: nobody replaces a boiler in the middle of the tomato or sardine campaign.
- Months 1 to 2: team and boundary. A project lead, missing meters installed on steam, refrigeration and compressed air, the refrigerant register opened.
- Next season: metering. Weekly readings, output by product, heat-demand map. Above 1,500 tonnes of oil equivalent a year, the mandatory energy audit under Decree No. 2-17-746 provides the baseline: see preparing the mandatory energy audit.
- End of season: lever register. The ten levers, quantified in tonnes of CO2e avoided with your data, each with an owner and its evidence.
- Off-season: no-regret actions. Steam traps, insulation, condensers, doors and airlocks, combustion tuning, compressed-air and refrigerant leaks.
- At renewal: investment. Heat recovery, heat pump or solar thermal, refrigeration unit with a lower-impact refrigerant, solar photovoltaic plant.
- Every year: follow-up. Energy indicator per tonne, recalculated inventory, variances explained. An energy management system under ISO 50001:2018 — Energy management systems — Requirements with guidance for use (formerly ISO 50001:2011) provides the framework: see ISO 50001 and energy audits.
An SME can also apply to the PACT’Décarbonation/Eau programme of Maroc PME (see the FAQ); ACG promises no funding.
What will European customers ask for beyond the plant?
Product-level data, targets that cover agricultural sourcing, and substantiated claims.
- Footprint per product. A buyer asking for the footprint of a product rather than the site expects a calculation under ISO 14067:2018 — Greenhouse gases — Carbon footprint of products (under revision: draft ISO/WD 14067.2 at stage 20.60 on iso.org as of 11 November 2026): see our ISO 14067 guide.
- FLAG targets. According to the SBTi FLAG page consulted on 11 November 2026, food and beverage processing companies that set targets must set FLAG (forest, land and agriculture) targets, in addition to energy and industry targets. The FLAG Guidance was updated on 19 March 2026 and a version 2 is being prepared; the Corporate Net-Zero Standard is now at version 2.0, published on 11 June 2026.
- Land-related emissions. The GHG Protocol Land Sector and Removals Standard (version 1.1, following a version 1.0 published on 30 January 2026) takes effect on 1 January 2027. Expect questions on where your agricultural raw materials come from: see the 15 scope 3 categories.
- Claims. Since 27 September 2026, the date from which national transposing measures apply, Directive (EU) 2024/825 prohibits claiming, on the basis of greenhouse gas offsetting, that a product has a neutral, reduced or positive impact on emissions. A “carbon neutral” pack sold in the EU is therefore out of bounds without compliant substantiation: see our article on Directive (EU) 2024/825. Our position: avoided tonnes first, claims afterwards.
What mistakes should you avoid, and is your plant ready?
Mistakes almost always come from metering too short a period or deciding on an investment before metering. Review your plan with production, refrigeration maintenance, purchasing and quality.
Three mistakes come up again and again: sizing a solar plant before cutting refrigeration and compressed-air consumption, replacing a boiler like for like without a heat-demand map, and comparing two years without normalising for output and weather.