At Tilda we share a strong commitment to protecting our environment and minimizing impacts across the business.

Waste
Essentially our business is milling the world's finest rice. Rice milling consists of gently rubbing away the hulls and outer bran layers of each rice grain. Everything is used: the woody outer hulls are used as a renewable source of energy; the rice bran is a nutritious ingredient used in animal feed and, although we try not to break any precious basmati grains, the broken grains are actually sold as Basmati Broken Rice, so waste is minimal.

Energy Efficiency
The energy used to power the mill is electricity. We have consistently achieved the energy efficiency Milestones set in the UK's Climate Change Agreement that we signed in 2000.

Transport
Our rice is transported by boat and arrives at the Tilda mill on the River Thames just outside London. The location at Rainham was chosen because it benefits from a jetty to accommodate deep-hulled, ocean-going cargo freight vessels. Boats are particularly energy efficient and low CO2 emitting forms of transport.

Recycling
We recoup and segregate all our recyclable waste (i.e. paper, cardboard, plastic and cans) generated on site for our expert partners to recycle it.

Packaging
Where Facilities exist, the majority of our packaging can be recycled, but not all can be recycled yet. The nature of our product requires that it reach consumers just as it left the mill clean and free from any kind of contaminants. This limits the packaging available to us, but we are committed to minimising land fill waste and investigating greener alternatives with our supply partners wherever possible.

Farming Practices
We recognise that no farming activity is without impact on the environment, however Basmati rice farming in Haryana, India, is still carried out on small-scale family-owned farms using techniques handed down for generations. Traditional Basmati farming requires that the low yielding plants are hand tended. There are no combine harvesters or mechanised threshing as this leads to too many grains being lost, so the traditional farming practices are more efficient as well as being more environmentally friendly.

The Tilda farm at Kibimba, Uganda, introduced irrigation to the farmlands and has also provided migratory birds with a new home along 13km of the fertile valley and as such it is a special place of interest. The Tilda farm's mission is to support Uganda in its goal to become self-sufficient in rice.