Don’t ‘waste’ potential: Turning biowaste into a strategic resource in the food & beverage sector
by Vincenzo Giordano, Iria Nicolás, Clément Barbaux
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Practical Decarbonisation & Energy Optimisation
The decarbonisation conversation is evolving. While energy and carbon targets are now common, progress often stalls where energy optimisation is not grounded in commercial and operational reality. Without site-level plans, credible investment cases, and clear ownership, many initiatives fail to progress beyond strategy. This is slowing progress on organisations’ ability to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and strengthen energy resilience.
That's where we come in.
We’ve recently worked on a global energy efficiency programme, across 60 sites in North America, Europe and China of a major automotive company allowing to identify and implement over 300 projects. Leveraging an innovative as-a-Service approach, the programme was deployed with zero upfront investment from the automative company. It allowed an average energy consumption reduction of 11% across the scope, which was verified upon the projects’ commissioning through tailored measurement and verification protocols.
Get in touch with our Decarbonisation & Energy team
Recent projects
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For one F&B company, which had set a goal to replace natural gas at its UK sites by 2030, although on-site biowaste energy valorisation had been explored for years, progress stalled due to unclear business justification and misalignment across teams. Our support confirmed the viability of a near-site Anaerobic Digester project - €20M CAPEX under an as-a-Service model and benefiting from subsidies - derisked investments through a gated decision process, and finally advanced it to the engineering stage.
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A global pharma company needed to strengthen its energy security of supply, achieve carbon reduction targets, while reducing its Total Cost of Ownership and minimising associated risks across its worldwide footprint of 25 sites. We developed a digital twin of the energy systems to optimise the energy transition pathways, and we aligned more than 130 stakeholders to move 270 projects through the different decision stages up to implementation.
Why SLR?
We focus on the practical side of decarbonisation and energy optimisation: breaking down broad strategies into investment-ready projects, mobilising capital, and delivering results that can be tracked and reported. This includes energy asset optimisation, energy security, fleet transitions, renewable energy deployment, heat decarbonisation, or efficiency improvements - as well as concrete initiatives within the supply chain, from insetting programmes to sector collaboration through coordinated supplier clusters (e.g. PEG).
By working with both corporate leaders and on-the-ground teams, we make sure decarbonisation and energy optimisation measures are not only credible on paper, but achievable in practice.
Are you early in your decarbonisation journey? Reach out to discuss how we can help with your GHG accounting and target setting.
Value-led, End-to-End, and Collaborative
Our team of decarbonisation and energy optimisation specialists operate globally with large organisations across sectors, at different stages of maturity, across their portfolio of sites.
Our decarbonisation offering is designed to address our client’s specific challenges, but often solve for the following:
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Clear ROI
Targets that are not routed in economics or operational reality stand little chance of getting off the ground. The practicalities of implementation often reveal significant gaps that can undermine confidence in the proposed pathways.
We base decarbonisation and energy optimisation strategies in robust economics - combining modelling, CAPEX planning, and risk analysis with the broader value that projects create. This means not only managing costs, but also avoiding stranded assets, opening new market opportunities, and strengthening competitive positioning.
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Internal alignment
In many organisations, ambitious corporate targets and operational realities evolve at different speeds. Strategic goals are often set at group level, while day-to-day investment decisions are made closer to the sites. Without strong alignment, this can slow progress.
We bridge leadership expectations - from shareholders, boards, and customers - with sector-specific pressures and on-the-ground operational realities. By bridging these layers, decarbonisation and energy optimisation projects become both feasible at site level and fully aligned with the company’s strategic priorities.
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Clear action plans
Many companies have high-level roadmaps that identify the “what” - electrify fleets, switch to renewables - but not the “how.” Without site-specific plans, clear CAPEX requirements, and realistic ROI modelling, progress stalls. Add to this the lack of internal resources (people, expertise, and capacity) to follow through on action plans, and momentum is quickly lost.
We break down generic strategies into practical, site-level plans that quantify costs, returns, and emissions impact. We also act as an extension of the client’s team: reviewing suppliers, helping select the most suitable partners, tracking progress, and providing hands-on delivery support. This allows clients to make progress without the need to build permanent teams for projects that may only arise once in a generation.
Our Practical Decarbonisation & Energy Optimisation Services Include:
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Click to explore
- Single & Multi-Site Energy & Decarbonisation Plans
- Energy Surveys & Optimisation
- Feasibility & Options Appraisal
- Renewables Sourcing
- Projects Financing & Funding
- Implementation Programme Delivery
- Suppliers Engagement Programme
- Residual Emissions & Insetting Programme
Our Team Includes
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Stéphane Rapoport
Head of Energy & Emissions Excellence - EMEA
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Ben Moens
Head of Energy & Emissions Excellence - EMEA
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Lee Jukes
Principal Consultant - Europe
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James Balik-Meacher
Director, Climate and Nature Advisory – Asia Pacific
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Jason Bell
Technical Discipline Manager, Energy Advisory - US
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Matthew Roman
Technical Director, Energy Advisory - US
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Takalani Gangazhe
Associate Director, Energy and Climate Change - MEA
Get in Touch
We're here to support you in Making Sustainability Happen. Get in touch for a collaborative discussion about what that could look like for your organisation.
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