Tate & Lyle sustainability score: 50/100
Leading practice starts at 60. The highest score on SINK is 71.
Tate & Lyle is a UK-listed food ingredients company producing sweeteners, starches, and functional ingredients from corn, stevia, citrus, and seaweed. Headquartered in London, it has ~4,875 employees and generated £2.0bn revenue in FY2026.
More about Tate & Lyle
It has agreed to be acquired by Ingredion (2026).
Founded 1903Head office London, United KingdomStaff ~4,875Revenue £2,006M (FY2026, year to 31 Mar 2026)Website ↗
Tate & Lyle reports comprehensive carbon data and holds SBTi 1.5°C targets, but Scope 1 emissions flatlined year-on-year and water-use intensity worsened. A Danish wastewater permit breach emerged. Supply-chain deforestation commitments lack independent verification.
Tate & Lyle scores 50/100 (Making progress) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Nobody can pay to change a score, speed it up or hide it. Last verified October 2026.
That places Tate & Lyle joint 155th of 1,023 companies scored, and 8th of 51 in Food & Beverage (non-meat).
What is Tate & Lyle doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Carbon Footprint: Operations and Carbon Footprint: Supply Chain (8/10, 8/10). Weakest on Water Impact and Nature & Biodiversity Impact (4/10, 5/10).
Where Tate & Lyle lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
What would raise this score
- Its effect on waterMeasure its water footprint and set reduction targets.
- Its effect on natureMeasure its effect on nature and have it independently verified.
- Whether its emissions are fallingShow a consistent fall over several years across its operations and supply chain.
Every question that lost points
- Emissions from its own operations8/10No verified figures published with their method and a falling trend.
- Emissions from its supply chain8/10Its Scope 3 emissions aren't fully verified or falling year on year.
- Whether its emissions are falling6/10No consistent fall over several years across its operations and supply chain.
- How clean its energy is6/10Less than 90% of its energy shown to be renewable.
- Its effect on nature5/10Its effect on nature isn't measured or independently verified.
- How it uses materials and handles waste6/10No verified figures for reuse and recycling across the business.
- Its effect on water4/10No measured water footprint with reduction targets.
- Its climate targets8/10No validated long-term net zero target.
- How openly it reports8/10No mission-locked structure, such as B Corp certification.
- Its record on controversies7/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Tate & Lyle's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleWhat evidence is Tate & Lyle's score based on?
19 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
26% of them were published by Tate & Lyle itself; the rest come from independent sources.
14 of 19 sources are independent of the company.
“Scope 2 (indirect emissions from the energy we buy) (market-based) 86,345 161,797”
“publicly reported environmental data is audited by Tate & Lyle’s internal audit team and third-party”
“17% absolute reduction in Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions (target: 38% absolute reduction by 2028).”
“Enel will deliver approximately 256,000 megawatt hours of renewable electricity and renewable energy credits (RECs) from the Ranchland wind farm in Texas”
“a 63-turbine, 263-megawatt (MW) project paired with an 87-MWdc battery storage system”
“The 12-year PPA will deliver approximately 256,000 megawatts hours of renewable electricity and associated RECs annually”
“Our Forest Positive Policy is our blueprint to achieving a deforestation-free supply chain for our”
“In 2025, emissions from the 4,000 acres enrolled in the programme were 19% lower than the regional average for the year.”
“Tate & Lyle and its partners will use Regrow’s AI-driven software platform to quantify environmental impacts and monitor trends in participating farms.”
“CP Kelcos miljøtilladelse er fra 2003 og er ikke blevet revurderet siden.”
“Reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 63% by the year ended 31 March 2036 from a base year ended 31 March 2022”
“it has earned an A rating from CDP for supplier engagement and has been named in CDP’s 2023 Supplier Engagement Rating Leaderboard”
“Together these eight sites account for 76% of Tate & Lyle’s water usage.”
“These targets replace Tate & Lyle’s previously SBTi-validated science-based GHG emissions targets.”
“its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for 2030 have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).”
“Tate & Lyle is in talks with US ingredients giant Ingredion over a possible £2.7bn takeover”
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How does Tate & Lyle compare with other food & beverage (non-meat) companies?
Where Tate & Lyle sits among food & beverage (non-meat) peers.
Among the 51 major food & beverage (non-meat) brands we've scored, Tate & Lyle sits 8th of 51.
Who scores higher in Food & Beverage (non-meat)?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Tate & Lyle.
Coca-Cola HBC delivers credible emissions reductions in operations—61% since 2010, verified third-party—but Scope 3 from ingredients is rising and total value chain decoupling from growth remains incomplete.
See the breakdown →Pernod Ricard cut its total emissions 9% in FY26 and 18.5% since FY22 against SBTi-validated net-zero targets, though part of the fall came from lower volumes.
See the breakdown →Nespresso has credible SBTi-validated net-zero targets and strong renewable energy at factories, but leans heavily on unverified insetting and offsets rather than real emission cuts.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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