BENEO barge investment to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent
BENEO will halve the number of truck movements to and from Wijgmaal, Belgium, by increasing the volumes transported over water.
BENEO has invested half a million Euro in waterway transport to reduce its reliance on road transport. The project, which has included increasing unloading capacity at the company’s rice starch plant in Wijgmaal, Belgium, will enable BENEO to transport two-thirds of its cargo by barge each year. This will reduce carbon emissions associated with the inbound transport of rice from the harbor to the plant by 20 percent annually.
BENEO’s Wijgmaal plant has a heritage in waterway transport that stretches back to 1856, when barges were first used to transfer Asian imported rice from the Belgian ports to the factory. In the intervening years, road vehicles took over as the main mode of transport. However, going forward, BENEO has identified barge transport as a more sustainable logistics platform and focus for investment.