Introduction – The Role of Dairy Processing in a Net-Zero Future

Decarbonizing dairy across the full supply chain is critical to achieving global climate targets. Dairy processing, as a key link between farm and consumer, plays a central role in this transformation. It is one of the most energy- and resource-intensive stages of the value chain, yet it offers significant opportunities to cut emissions through efficiency improvements, electrification, and integration of renewable energy.

The P2DNZ Dairy Processing Task Force was launched in 2023 with industry leadership from Tetra Pak, as a pre-competitive global forum dedicated to helping the dairy sector rapidly reduce Scope 1 emissions, those generated directly from processing operations. This collaborative effort reflects a shared commitment to innovation and transparency, ensuring that solutions are practical, science-based, and aligned with global net-zero ambitions.

Lower energy and water use translates into cost savings and operational resilience, while cutting carbon footprints supports climate goals and strengthens trust in dairy as a sustainable source of nutrition. Innovation in dairy processing can help build a more efficient and climate-resilient food system while continuing to deliver the nutritional benefits of dairy.

Pasteurized milk processing in focus: products, process, and challenges

Chilled dairy lines produce pasteurised milk that must be kept refrigerated to maintain safety, freshness, and taste. Pasteurised milk relies on controlled heat treatment, where the product is gently heated to destroy harmful microorganisms and then rapidly cooled to preserve flavour and nutritional integrity. This process follows well‑established safety and quality requirements for market milk.

These lines typically produce fresh pasteurised milk, Extended Shelf Life (ESL) milk, and cream for chilled distribution, using steps such as  separation, standardisation, pasteurisation, and immediate cooling. Their key advantage is delivering high‑quality chilled products that retain natural characteristics and meet strict food‑safety standards.

The challenge: high heat demand for pasteurisation, intensive cooling loads across storage and handling, and water‑intensive Clean‑in‑Place (CIP) cleaning cycles needed to maintain hygiene. Traditional designs also miss opportunities to recover heat from pasteurisation and reduce cooling demand, leading to higher energy use and environmental impact.

Building on Taskforce discussions, a set of proven, ready‑to‑deploy solutions has been identified to drive carbon reduction, water efficiency, and loss prevention for this line.

Ready-to-deploy solutions for Pasteurized milk processing lines

Reducing energy consumption

Heat Regeneration & Heat Exchanger Optimisation:

• Up to >90% heat regeneration in pasteurisation using product-to-product heat exchange.
• Indirect heating loops recover hot water and steam condensate.
• Heat pumps reclaim cooling energy from chilled storage and upgrade it to hot water.
• Proper insulation reduces energy losses across tanks and tubular heat exchangers.

Reducing product losses & water consumption

• CIP recovery reduces water and chemical use by up to 50–60%.
• Inline standardisation reduces holding volumes and mix-phase losses.
• Up to 40–45% carbon reduction with heat recovery and efficient process design.
• Up to 60% reduction in water use (CIP recovery, condensate reuse, fewer rinse cycles).
• Up to 40–50% product loss reduction in both chilled milk and yoghurt lines.

Estimated impact: carbon, water, and loss reduction

Tetra Pak have worked with the Carbon Trust, who have reviewed and aligned the assessment with best practice frameworks like the WBCSD’s Avoided Emissions Guidance and the Net Carbon Impact Methodology from the European Green Digital Coalition.

This assessment compared best available lines from 2019, used as a representative of traditional lines, with market-ready solutions in 2025 for carbon, water, and product loss reduction, like the ones described in this document.

Implementing a recommended set of best practice solutions across an existing pasteurized milk processing lines can reduce emissions by up to 49% compared with a best-available line in 2019. At a global level, this could deliver potential annual savings of 7.7 mtCO₂e in 2025 if applied across all pasteurized milk processing lines worldwide. Actual impact may vary by site, and reductions could be from 49% up to 62% in facilities powered by 100% renewable electricity.

Water use can be reduced by up to 49%, and product losses by up to 65% compared to 2019 benchmarks.

Scaling solutions: the role of policy and investment

Meeting global climate targets demands urgent action in food systems, and dairy processing is a critical lever.

Deploying available solutions at scale can lower operating costs, improve resource efficiency, and strengthen competitiveness. With supportive policies and targeted investments, the sector can accelerate deployment of these technologies, attract green financing, create jobs in clean technology, and position dairy as a leader in sustainable growth. With the right policies and partnerships, we can make this stage of the value chain more sustainable and resilient, ensuring dairy processing becomes more sustainable while maintaining the sector’s economic viability.