LMK Group continues to advance its positions in sustainability-related activities. In Sweden, the company has recently initiated a collaboration with Urban Oasis for hydroponic farming of vegetables. At the same time, LMK Group has undertaken a Plastic Promise with clear goals to reduce the use of plastic.
– We need to find new ways of growing, producing and packaging food that do not burden the climate. With sustainability at the core of our business model, this is crucial to us, and we therefore look forward to work actively with these initiatives to promote sustainable farming and reduced plastic use, says LMK Group’s Sustainability Manager Anna-Lena Dahlberg.
Urban Oasis is a Swedish company that grows vegetables vertically and hydroponically in a repurposed underground storage area in Stockholm. Hydroponic farming has several advantages over conventional farming – the plants get exactly the amount of nutrients that they need in each growth phase and in addition, up to 90 percent less water can be used. Vertical indoor farming means that you can produce 100 times more on the same surface as traditional agriculture.
In addition to reduced food waste and sustainable farming, reduced plastic use is a priority area for LMK Group. During the first quarter of 2021, it was announced that LMK Group, through one of the company’s suppliers on the Norwegian market, were able to replace plastic packaging of grated cheese, reducing the amount of packaging material used for only one product with the equivalent of two tonnes of plastic per year.
LMK Group is now taking further steps and is working on several efforts to minimize the use of plastic in food packaging. With the launch of a new Plastic Promise, the company undertakes to communicate targets for reduced plastics, as well as to report the results. The first objective is to reduce the amount of plastic by 20% by 2025. In a joint effort with its suppliers, this will be achieved by replacing packaging from plastic to paper to the extent possible, reducing the amount of plastic and removing double plastic packaging.
