ST. LOUIS — The launch of a climate-friendly snack brand and membership in the Sustainable Packaging Coalition and How2Recycle are two examples of steps taken by Post Holdings, Inc. to move its environmental and social agenda forward. The St. Louis-based company unveiled all its actions taken over the past year in its second annual Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report.

In May, Airly Foods, part of Bright Future Foods LLC, a subsidiary of Post Holdings, debuted Oat Clouds. Each 7.5-oz box of the snack crackers removes 18 to 21 grams of CO₂ from the air.

According to Post, Oat Clouds are the “first snack product to empower consumers by printing the carbon footprint right on the package” and the “first snack brand to bring together world-leading soil scientists directly with oat and wheat farmers.”

“And crackers are just the beginning,” Post noted in the report. “Airly seeks to inspire a movement — to challenge ourselves, our suppliers and other food producers to rethink how food can be made and develop creative solutions to lower our carbon footprint. By acting together, our small steps could start to add up to big change.”

Also in 2021, Post Consumer Brands partnered with Taylor Truck Lines to purchase the state of Minnesota’s first electric terminal tractor with funding from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Post said it is using the tractor to transport cereal products between its distribution facilities in Northfield, Minn.

“We recognize the environmental impacts related to our transportation and logistics footprint and are proactively working to identify ways to increase efficiency in our value chain without compromising quality or customer satisfaction,” Post said in the ESG report.

Another step in the ESG journey that took place this year was Post’s membership in the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) and How2Recycle (H2R).

“We support SPC’s mission to make packaging that protects the quality and safety of the food, while enhancing sustainability,” Post said. “SPC membership also exposes us to new ideas, allows us to network with other leadership companies and offers potential collaboration opportunities with SPC. H2R is the next generation recycling label that helps inform consumers how to dispose of or recycle packaging accurately and where to go if they need to find information specific to their municipality. While we are committed to continuously improving our efforts, it is important to ensure consumers have the necessary information to do their part. We are committed to implementing H2R across our portfolio of brands and products.”

Post said it expects to have 99% of its Weetabix brand packaging recyclable by the summer of 2022, up from 93% in 2021. Initiatives put in place in 2021 included a new wrap for Weetabix cereal, which is 100% recyclable in curbside collections. Post said the change reduced the carbon footprint of Weetabix cereal packaging by 20%.