Dinant Marks Earth Day With Commitment To Invest Further In Environmental Preservation
Honduran Agri-Business Protects Many Hundreds of Hectares of Tropical Rainforest
Dinant’s palm plantations support a range of flora that provides nutrition, shelter and corridors for wildlife
TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS, 21 APRIL 2021: To mark Earth Day, Dinant – the family-owned consumer products manufacturer founded in Honduras in 1960 – has reconfirmed its commitment to invest resources in protecting and enhancing the natural environment. Company spokesman, Roger Pineda, said, “Earth Day is a timely reminder to us all that protecting the natural environment must continue to be at the heart of Dinant’s business model and at the core of our values. We’ve achieved a lot, but there is a great deal more to do.” For many years, Dinant has invested widely in environmental initiatives:- Dinant protects many hundreds of hectares of tropical rainforest at two Wildlife Conservation Centers in Honduras, and manages breeding and release programs of endangered indigenous species including jaguar, tapir, red macaw and green iguana.
- The Company rigorously benchmarks its palm oil business against stringent international standards on environmental impact and the sustainability of supplies. Its palm oil extraction mills and plantations have been awarded two International Sustainability and Carbon Certifications – ISCC EU and ISCC Plus – for the sustainability of raw materials and products, the traceability of the supply chain, and control of greenhouse gas emissions.
- Dinant invests heavily in growing high-yield varieties of palm that can be harvested more easily and take up less land, and shares these with local independent producers at cost price. As its palm plantations have matured and the use of artificial fertilizers reduced, flora has been allowed to flourish, providing animals with better nutrition, shelter and wildlife corridors.
- Dinant’s high-tech biogas recovery unit at its oil extraction mill in the Aguán uses biomass from the waste of the palm fruit to produce both clean energy that is returned to the facility and steam that is used to power the boilers. This facility has generated over 114 million m³ of biogas since 2008, displacing or reducing the use of fossil fuels by nearly 10 million gallons.
- All of Dinant’s facilities have retained ISO 14001 certified status since April 2015 as a mark of their progress in environmental management. Furthermore, wastewater treatment facilities are returning clean water to rivers at the Comayagua plants. The extraction mills at Aguán and Leán have zero discharge operations, with the wastewater used for ferti irrigation or the production of organic compost.
