Controlling the carbon footprint
Over the next 12 months, we will make a complete carbon assessment of the production activities of our active ingredients to identify the volume of CO2 that we generate and also of our plant and algae cultures in order to determine the volume of CO2 that is absorbed.
After obtaining this close-up, our 5-year objective is to significantly reduce our carbon footprint by eco-designing our new active ingredients, optimising current processes and also by increasing CO2 capture through ambitious plant cultivation programmes.
For example, CODIF has recently invested in the company Alga Plus, which specialises in growing macro-algae in a controlled natural environment. This company is based in Portugal at Aveiro near Porto and occupies a unique position on a protected lagoon. Algae are grown organically in large quantities in order to supply many European users of organic food algae with a certain number of high-quality algal species that cannot be cultivated on the Brittany coasts.
Why is this? Because algae consume a large quantity of CO2. This will enable CODIF and Alga Plus to participate in the atmospheric capture of this gas which is the cause of the global warming of our planet.
Intelligent waste management
Our objective is clear: to precisely quantify the waste produced per kilo of manufactured extract, ingredient by ingredient.
This will allow us to implement, by 2025, a programme dedicated to achieving a significant reduction in the quantity of waste while continuing to find new solutions for its recycling or reuse.
One such example is HYDRASALINOL, an active ingredient obtained from samphire by supercritical fluid extraction. After production, all that remains is a plant co-product devoid of its active ingredients and containing many mineral salts.
One of the problems of growing organic plants under bioclimatic cover is the manual removal of weeds.
When samphire co-products are spread on the soil they not only create a dense mulch preventing weed growth but also provide the minerals necessary for the proper development of halophilic plants. CODIF is committed to this approach for complete recycling by producing mulch and natural fertilizer for plants.
Ecotoxicity and biodegradability of active ingredients
We have invested a sum of around one hundred thousand euros per year over several years to ensure that any new active ingredients placed on the market have passed ecotoxicity and biodegradability tests. We also aim to extend these tests to our whole portfolio of actives within five years.
Sustainable sourcing
Cultivation at sea, in organic greenhouses or in photo-bioreactors allows the control of inputs. However, there are still plants and algae that cannot be grown, for the present time at least. Here too, we have given ourselves 5 years to develop new cultivation methods. Nevertheless, some processes will remain impossible to internalise.
We have been working for many years with suppliers who have been harvesters, seaweed growers, fishermen and craftsmen for several generations.
In order to strengthen our links with these sectors, we have committed ourselves to meet each of our algae and plant partners, to better understand their profession, their difficulties and to develop sustainable businesses together.
Cultivation and wild harvesting charters will be implemented during the next 12 months. The aim is for all our suppliers to adhere to them by 2025.
Sustainability of cultivation inputs
Today CODIF cultivates micro-organisms in complex environments that are often of plant origin. We would like to go further! From 2021, any new biotechnological active ingredient will only be developed when the agricultural sourcing of most of the growth media is sustainable.
Between now and 2025, we would like to extend this commitment to all the processes involved in the cultivation of macro- and micro-organisms.
Species traceability
Traceability does not only mean knowing the date a batch was harvested or the date it was dried.
On the contrary, CODIF wants to be irreproachable on the traceability of plant genus and species. We initiated this commitment, which is both moral and toxicological, several years ago with DNA Gensee and its founder Nicole Giraud. This company specialised in barcoding, allows the genus and species of a plant to be determined from its DNA.
The objective is clear; for any extract or active ingredient derived from any plant, it is essential to identify the genus and also the species with a percentage certainty of more than 95% in order to obtain the botanical identity.
Today, this is a commitment for any new development.
Everyone must be responsible for safeguarding their environment. At CODIF we put action before words.
During 2021 we will therefore continue to meet the strong commitments we made 20 years ago to ensure that tomorrow the marriage between CODIF and the planet is sustainable.
