Grupo Bimbo Reaffirms Its Environmental Commitment With Bimbo Solar, Its New Energy Self-Sufficiency System
Committed to working on a sustainable path for a better world, through its on-going investments in technology and innovation to reduce its environmental footprint, Grupo Bimbo, announced today the implementation of its “Bimbo Solar”, self-sufficiency system, which in its first stage will consolidate 33 systems that together will generate 3.7 MW. This will avoid the annual emissions of 2,500 tons of CO2 which is equal to discontinuing the use of 3,115 barrels of oil or to planting 120 thousand trees.
With the presence of the head of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat, Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales), Ing. Rafael Pacchiano, as well as of Ing. Odón de Buen, General Director of the National Commission for the Efficient Use of Energy (CONUEE Comisión Nacional para el Uso Eficiente de la Energía), Dr. Marcelino Madrigal, Commissioner of the Energy Regulating Commission (CRE, Comisión Reguladora de Energía), Magaly Flores, Deputy Director of Grids of the Federal Electricity Commission (Comisión Federal de Electricidad), Julian Willenbrock, co-founder and CEO of Enlight, a solar panel supplier firm, Fernando Tovar, CEO of Engie México, Daniel Servitje, President and CEO of Grupo Bimbo and Javier González Franco, General Deputy Director of Grupo Bimbo, inaugurated the system installed at the Corporate building located in Mexico City, which includes 308 solar panels that will supply 20% of the power used in that facility.
“By incorporating this technology to our operations and the Corporate building, at Grupo Bimbo we are taking another important step in our strong commitment to sustainability and the planet”, Daniel Servitje, President and CEO of Grupo Bimbo stated. He added that “every action is accumulative and all efforts count to take care of our environment. We should make sure that all progress will protect the natural heritage of the future”.
On his part, Julian Willenbrock, co-founder and CEO of Enlight stated, "this type of actions foster a radical change in the way we use and generate energy in the planet. It is an honor for Enlight to be part of this change, and we are excited to do it hand in hand with Grupo Bimbo, a leader company that is committed to the continuous improvement of its operations, with the planet and society". This initiative is a complement to the company’s renewable energy strategy, which is aligned to its vision and its purpose of building a sustainable, highly productive, and deeply humane company.
Made up by 33 systems, the first stage will jointly supply to 3.7 MW to 24 sales depos, 7 branches of El Globo, the Corporate building, and the Metropolitan distribution center, which is currently being built. It will be Mexico’s largest self-sufficiency solar power system on the roofs, and the second largest in Latin America, with the power of 2.2 MW.
It would be worth to highlight that Grupo Bimbo has always been at the forefront by implementing actions to reduce its environmental footprint, among which the following stand out:
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Adhesion to global actions such as the Paris Pledge for Action on Climate Change, which objective is to reduce contaminating emissions and reduce the increasing global temperature to below 2 degrees centigrade; the New York Declaration on Forests (United Nations) and most recently the Declaration of Support to the Cerrado Manifesto, in Brazil, to stop deforestation in the region.
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Piedra Larga Wind Farm, dedicated to Grupo Bimbo, including 45 wind turbines and an installed capacity of 90 MW, which supplies power to the company and the operation of México, as well as ecological sales depos that encompass all of the company’s environmental initiatives, and a fleet of 350 electric distribution vehicles that were designed and manufactured by Moldex, a subsidiary of Grupo Bimbo.
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Water footprint reduction by 29% since 2009. Nine of its plants have systems to catch, store and reutilize rainwater and, in the last years, the technology of all of its water treatment facilities has been modernized.
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Recycling of 95% of waste from its operations; eight plants have achieved zero waste to the landfills. In addition to this, the company has pioneered the implementation of technology to manufacture biodegradable wrappers in Latin America, and is the first company to include this technology in metalized wrappers. Their thickness has been reduced by more than 2 million kilos globally since 2010. The company also began a collaboration with ECOCE in 2017 for wrapper management.
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A strong commitment with the communities and its value chain, including training and development programs for small and medium enterprises, as well as a Global Policy of Sustainable Agriculture, a Global Policy for Palm Oil, and the implementation of pilot projects, together with CIMMYT, for corn and wheat sustainable cultivation in México.
A strong commitment with the communities and its value chain, including training and development programs for small and medium enterprises, as well as a Global Policy of Sustainable Agriculture, a Global Policy for Palm Oil, and the implementation of pilot projects, together with CIMMYT, for corn and wheat sustainable cultivation in México.
