A batch of 524 tonnes of sugar produced during the 2025/2026 campaign at the Strzelin sugar plant in Poland carries a confirmed product carbon footprint of 0.0 kg CO2e per tonne. The facility, part of Südzucker Polska, now runs its own production on biogas generated from beet pulp.
The figure does not describe an average for the whole factory or a promise about future output. It applies to a specific lot that was physically made and then examined from sugar beet sowing, through harvesting and transport, to processing and packaging at the plant gate.
The backbone of the change is a biogas installation whose expansion was finished in September 2025. It has 50 MW of total capacity and can produce more than 9,000 cubic metres of biogas per hour, using beet pulp left over after sugar extraction as fuel.
– It is thanks to this infrastructure that a fully closed loop became possible in Strzelin. Beet pulp turns into an energy source, and the digestate goes back to the fields as an organic fertiliser – said Dr Maciej Dobrowolski, director of technology and engineering at Südzucker Polska.
Waste returned to the process
Material that once counted mainly as a disposal problem now feeds the energy system of the plant itself, and the digestate from the biogas process is spread on fields as an organic fertiliser. Beets go through the sugar house, and their residues come back as power for the next campaign.
Field and transport operations were included in the emissions balance as well. Beet deliveries run on renewable diesel, while regenerative farming practices cover varied crop rotation and controlled management of post-harvest residues, which pushes the accounting earlier in the chain, beyond the boiler or the furnace.
The whole exercise reaches further than a certificate. The plant is reorganising the economics of sugar making by tying energy generation, farming and residue processing into a single circuit that feeds itself.
Independent check and the supply-chain calculation
The 0.0 kg CO2e per tonne result was verified by DQS Polska, an independent certification body, in line with the ISO 14067 standard. The methodology had earlier been validated by TÜV SÜD, an international organisation dealing with certification and technical testing.
– Our goal was to create sugar with a product carbon footprint of 0 CO2/t, based on credible data and a verified methodology. We monitored the whole process, from sowing the beets to the finished product – said Mariusz Pawełek, president of Südzucker Polska.
Sugar is a raw material for other businesses, so its emissions profile becomes part of the footprint of drinks, confectionery and other food products. Manufacturers increasingly have to report the carbon intensity of entire supply chains, including purchased ingredients.
– Our customers, who are increasingly interested in sustainable solutions, need credible environmental data. With zero-carbon sugar they can realistically cut the footprint of their own products and strengthen their competitive position – said Artur Wołowicz, industrial sales director at Südzucker Polska.
Strzelin sits inside the decarbonisation strategy of the wider Südzucker Group, which targets a 50.4 per cent reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2030 and a 30 per cent cut in Scope 3 emissions.
Źródło: WNP.PL, Fot. Materiały prasowe / Südzucker Polska
