We take the sustainability of our company, business processes and production very serious. In addition, both sustainability and animal welfare are also central to our suppliers. Together, we take responsibility in sustainability and take up the challenge to become even more sustainable!
To gain insight into our actual sustainability performance, we use a sustainability and improvement platform. These components stem from the Green Deal through which the United Nations and the European Commission aim to make Europe a “Zero Emission continent” by 2050. And DeJong Cheese contributes to this in the following ways.
100% green energy
We recently had 1,000 solar panels installed on the cheese factory. The electricity we generate from these is directly and fully used for cheese production The solar panels generate about 30% of the electricity we need. The remaining 70% is also green electricity. We purchase this based on wind energy with green certificates.
On our way to 100% recyclable packaging
Mono packaging means that a product’s packaging consists of only one raw material. If packaging is made from only one raw material, it can be sorted and recycled much easier. For our products, we are working towards this mono packaging, so that all packaging will soon be 100% recyclable.
Locally sourced milk
Most of the milk used to make our (goat) cheese specialties is purchased locally in the Netherlands and Belgium. (within a radius of 100 km). This ensures low CO2 emissions.
Sustainable Goat Dairy Chain
The Platform Dairy Goat Farming, with a view to making the goat dairy chain more sustainable, has set up the Sustainable Goat Dairy Chain (DGZK). The DGZK focuses on the themes of animal health & welfare, energy & climate and sector transparency. 100% of our milk suppliers and ourselves are members of the ‘Platform Milk Goat Farming’
Whey is re-used
Whey is the liquid that remains in cheese making after the milk has curdled. This whey is not thrown away but re-used to make food for pigs.
Energy-efficient office
At the end of 2024, DeJong Cheese’s office staff moved to a new office building. Energy efficiency is central to this building. Heat pumps extract heat from the environment and use it to heat or cool office spaces. Both the heat recovery system and heat pumps provide a better working environment for employees and have much less environmental impact than a fossil-fuel-based heating system.
