Sustainability at Oatly

The plans, reports, numbers and thoughts on everything related to our impact.

We are a climate solutions company

*All pictures by Oatly staff at the factory and lab. No AI or marketing department involved.

 INTRO 

We believe in the power of oats

Hands placing a bowl filled with grains under a microscope on a white and black machine.
 Sustainability 

We're a Climate Solutions company

Read more

If there’s one thing we know, it’s oats. It’s the foundational power-crop in all our products, and we spend a lot of time researching, innovating and advancing the scientific understanding of the nutritional and sustainability potential of oats and oat drinks. Our products help make the shift to a balanced plant-rich diet easy. The shift will reduce the environmental footprint of the food system, while also providing significant health co-benefits

The current food system is not meeting the nutritional needs of present or future generations, creating significant economic losses and is causing severe environmental impacts.Livestock have proportionally larger environmental impacts than crops but only provide about 17 percent of calories and 38 percent of protein.

Land-based livestock use 80 percent of all agricultural landand account for 40 percent of total agricultural water useand around 50-60 percent of global GHG emissions from the food system. Due to land use and conversion for livestock, animal-based food is responsible for a significant proportion of biodiversity loss, and livestock now constitute 97 percent of animals on land.

In other words, people need to eat less meat and dairy and consume more plants. Using oat drink instead of cow’s milk in your coffee or drink is a great-tasting way to start. Oatly’s biggest climate impact doesn’t happen inside our factories. It happens every time someone replaces cow’s milk with Oatly. As a Climate Solution Company, it’s not only about shrinking our own footprint, it’s about shifting behavior.

Containers with labeled oat products and grains from different countries, including Finland, Australia, and Canada, are displayed on a table.

Life Cycle Assessment

Critically reviewed Life Cycle Assessment results of Oatly Barista products and comparison with cow’s milk

Source: LCA of ambient Oatly Barista 1 L/32oz, produced in either Sweden, Netherlands, or the US and sold in key Oatly markets in Europe and the US. Stages include raw material to point of sale and packaging waste management. Blonk Consultants 2024a, LCA of Oatly Barista for Poland, Ireland and France, and comparison with cow’s milk; Blonk Consultants 2024b, LCA of Oatly Barista for Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Italy and Spain, and comparison with cow’s milk; Blonk Consultants 2025, LCA of Oatly Barista for Austria and Switzerland and comparison with cow’s milk; Blonk Consultants (2025), LCA of Oatly Barista US, and comparison with cow's milk; Blonk Consultants, 2026 LCA of Oatly Barista in key markets and comparison with cow's milk https://blonksustainability.nl/news/LCAs-Oatly

 WATER 

The shape of water

The food industry is water-intensive, and decreasing water use and water waste is important in everything from agriculture to production. Water withdrawal at our factories is important from a sustainability point of view, and as a bonus encouragement, it’s also a material impact where we can save money.

We use the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas from the World Resources Institute (WRI), to help us focus our efforts, asking production facilities – our own and production

partner’s – located in high stress water areas to put extra focus on reducing their water withdrawal.

In 2025, our total water withdrawn by Oatly-operated production facilities was approximately 1.7 billion liters in total, which is 2.9 liters per liter of Oatly (L/L) finished goods equivalent (FGe). This is a decrease of approximately 33 percent from our 2019 baseline of 4.3 L/L and an increase from 2024’s 2.8 L/L. Our goal is 2.2 liters of water per liter of Oatly produced oat drink by 2030.

 WASTE 

The future of waste

Blue restroom with urinals and a wall sign reading "Pee for the Planet" by Oatly, promoting an environmental message.
 INITIATIVE 

Your pee. The fertilizer of the future.

Read more

Humans generate 26.4 billion tons of waste each year and only about 11% is recycled, and that’s not a sustainable use of material. At Oatly we’re working not only to reduce our waste but to enable more of our waste to be re-used where possible. Five years ahead of schedule, we met our goal to eliminate production waste to landfill in 2024. Now, we’ve developed new commitments expanding our waste tracking to include waste generated at both production facilities and warehouses. By 2030, we will reduce total waste by half from a 2025 baseline and eliminate waste to landfill through reuse, recycling and composting, and then converting the rest to energy. In 2025, our total waste to landfill was approximately 2 percent.

All of the roughly 82,600 metric tons of oat fiber byproduct we generated in 2025 was repurposed as animal feed, compost, soil improvement or converted to energy. Our goal is that all our oat fiber byproduct will be used to feed humans by 2040.

Carton of Oatly Barista Edition oat milk next to two plastic bottles filled with oats on a shelf.

 THANK YOU 

Cow's milk to Oatly +1000 million liters converted

Thanks to everyone who switched from cow’s milk to Oatly, our estimated total avoided emissions were roughly 285,896 metric tons of GHG emissions, in 2025. Bringing our total cumulative avoided emissions in the last seven years to about 1,432,190 tons GHG emissions. This is the equivalent to driving the distance to the moon and back about 8,000 times in an average EU diesel car, or if you are under 30, it corresponds to streaming about one trillion TikTok videos.

The avoided emissions per liter in 2025 was 0.48 kgCO2e per liter sold, our target is to maintain avoided emissions per liter sold at 0.5 kg carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).

A hand scoops grains from a large bucket, surrounded by lush green plants and soil in a garden setting.

Cumulative CO2e Avoided Emissions

*Please see our 2025 Sustainability Report at the bottom of this page for more details about our Avoided Emissions and how we calculated the equivalent climate impact.

Close-up of green leaves and blurred flowers under a bright blue sky, with a dark triangular roof edge in view.

 FARMING 

The farming regeneration

Introducing The F.A.R.M: The Future Agriculture Renovation Movement
 INITIATIVE 

A global initiative that works with farmers toward regenerative agriculture.

Read more

Well-managed natural assets can enhance the critical ecosystem services such as fresh-water provision, climate regulation and soil fertility on which we depend.

Agricultural landscapes, where oats are grown in rotation with many other crops, hold the potential to restore soil health, increase soil microbial biodiversity, benefit habitats and improve water quality.

In 2025, we expanded our work with oat farmers to support their transition to regenerative agriculture through our Future Agriculture Renovation Movement program (FARM), increasing our equivalent share of oats from regenerative agriculture to 7.8%. Keeping progress in line with our 2030 target of 33%

We provide financial incentives to oat farmers to transition to regenerative practices, and we also joined two landscape-level multi-stakeholder collaborations ahead of our scheduled 2026 date. By 2050, we will transition enough oat growers to regenerative agriculture to produce the equivalent of 100 percent of Oatly’s supply, reducing the net GHG emissions of oats used by us by 94 percent.

Window with red frame, leafy plant, red and white lamp, oat milk carton, bottles, and view of trees and field outside.

 FAILURES 

Big fails!

Top view of a grinder with grains inside next to a measuring cup filled with grains on a white surface.

Our digital team says this is the sustainability headline most people click on first, why is that we wonder? Do you like to see us fail? Well, did you know that our corporate climate footprint decreased by approximately 8 percent in 2025 versus 2024, while sales grew +4.7 percent. Which is the exact kind of asymmetry we want to see, and a BIG WIN! But ok, not everything went the way we wanted:

Emissions from transportation rose approximately 9 percent in 2025, mainly because we closed our factory in Singapore, resulting in increased shipping distances to Australia and Southeast Asia. The strong growth in new markets like Latin America also added new shipping routes, and we saw increased domestic trucking in the US as production shifted between sites. These are the current real-world trade-offs when trying to make the plant-based transition easy across the globe. We continue to explore and expand solutions to mitigate these trade-offs.

We’re stuck on the 89 percent of recycled and/or renewable materials for our packaging, and the last stubborn 11 percent remains difficult to move in the right direction. We’ll keep working on finding solutions that will improve our packaging.

Four pink deck chairs with "LY!" branding on grass, near a brick building and parked truck, under a blue sky.

POLICY & POLITICS 

The oat lobby

Cecilia, who used to be our one-woman lobbyist now has a small team helping her fight the good fight next to NGOs, political leaders and companies. That’s great, because in many countries, plant‑based drinks are subject to higher tax rates than cow’s milk, even though they serve the same purpose for consumers.

For example, in Germany, cow’s milk is taxed at 7% VAT while plant‑based alternatives face 19%, and in the Netherlands, most plant‑based drinks have been captured by the “lemonade” tax, while milk and soy drinks are exempt. These tax structures disfavor consumers who choose plant‑based options for taste, medical, sustainability, health or ethical reasons, and create unequal market conditions unaligned with public health or climate objectives.

We’ll continue working towards fair conditions, and aspire to contribute to at least 25 meaningful policy developments aligned with our business mission between 2025 and 2030. In the meantime, why not read about these six key moments from 2025 that supported a more sustainable food system.

Two Oatly lab coats hang on a yellow coat rack against a cloudy sky backdrop.
1. Definition of Plant-based foods and food ingredients

We contributed to the development of a global ISO standard (ISO8700:2025) that provides definitions of "plant-based foods" and "plant-based ingredients”. It recognizes that plant-based products do not contain any animal-derived ingredients. This will make things more transparent and fairer for consumers.

2. Updated Swedish Dietary Guidelines

Sweden updated its dietary guidelines with a stronger focus on plant-based eating, sustainability and food preparedness. The guidelines note that fortified plant-based drinks can contribute to a healthy and balanced diet, highlighting their generally higher fiber content and healthier fat profile compared to cow’s milk, recognizing their generally lower climate impact compared to animal based foods.

3. Iodine Fortification
Program, Norway

In 2025, the Norwegian Directorate of Health and the Norwegian Food Safety Authority launched an “Iodine fortification program” aimed at meeting the need for increased iodine intake, which includes an official recommendation of iodine fortification in plant-based drinks. A public health win we have been advocating for, for a long time.

Are you stupid? The milk lobby thinks you are.
 INITIATIVE 

Are you stupid? The milk mobby thinks you are.

Read more
Hey Food Industry, Show Us Your Numbers
 INITIATIVES 

Hey food industry, show us your numbers.

Read more
4. Exemption for Unsweetened Plant-Based Drinks from Excise Tax, Belgium

Belgium extended its excise tax exemption on non-alcoholic beverages to include more unsweetened plant-based drinks. Cow’s milk, as well as soy- and rice-based drinks, had already been exempt. This is the first meaningful update in around a decade, and a step towards fairer, future-ready food taxation, better reflecting the role of plant-based options in healthy diets and a more sustainable food system.

5. Sugar tax for
beverages, Finland.

Finland updated their sugar tax, and continues to treat plant-based drinks and milk in a similar way. Unflavoured plant-based drinks remain exempt if they contain no more than 4.8 g of sugar per 100 ml and are calcium-fortified. This positive outcome supports a level playing field for plant-based drinks.

6. Soft Drinks Industry Levy
(a.k.a. the sugar tax), UK.

UK updated its sugar tax, and we were pleased that unsweetened plant-based drinks remained out of scope, putting it on par with cow’s milk. But we question the introduction of a ”lactose allowance” for sweetened dairy drinks. This means that sweetened dairy drinks will be taxed at a lower rate compared to sweetened plant-based options.

Blurry image of a rural dirt road leading through green fields under a cloudy sky. Path divides fields of different crops.

 HUMAN RIGHTS 

Made for humans

We exist because of the humans who create and consume our products, and we believe that people everywhere are critical to both changing the food system and achieving our mission as a company. This is why we seek to align with important international human rights standards and focus on respecting the rights of everyone, but especially those affected by our business. From the oat farmers providing oats to the mills from which we source, to workers at Oatly production facilities, to the communities we operate in, and the baristas using our products to evolve coffee and drink culture.

In 2025, we continued to expand Oatly’s Human Rights Program with a new Human Rights policy that guides our global approach to responsible business. Now, we are turning that policy into action through our People, Sourcing and Procurement teams.

Person in a high-visibility vest stands near seated individuals on grass, with industrial containers and a large tank in the background.

 FAILURES 

CHEERS! SKÅL! 干杯! TO YOUR HEALTH!

Normalize it
 INITIATIVE 

Petition for plant-based drinks in the Schools

Read more
A lab table with beakers containing a oat drink, a tissue box, a digital device, wires, a pen, and a plastic cup.

Nutritional health has been a core value for Oatly since day one, ever since we invented the modern oat drink as a nutritious choice for people who couldn’t or wouldn’t consume cow’s milk for health, ethical or other reasons. Together with great taste, nutrition is a major encouragement for people to make more sustainable food choices.

In 2025, we developed an internal nutrient profile model (NPM) and are in the process of validating it. The NPM is grounded in nutritional science and anchored in international recommendations and guidelines. The model aligns with World Health Organization (WHO) guidance for sugar intake, recognized nutrient profiling 

systems and national recommendations.

In 2025, 94% of our volume sales came from nutritious foods and drinks that meet the Nutrient Profile Model mentioned above. 

Drawing on more than 30 years of research into oats and their nutritional benefits, we launched The Small Healthy Book in 2025 (or the Small Nutrition Book if you are in the US), to battle misinformation and help consumers (or anyone interested in nutrition) understand key nutrients such as fiber, fortification and fat quality. It has clear, science-based, accessible explanations of the nutritional attributes of Oatly’s unsweetened fortified oat drinks and has been translated into 7 languages and distributed to nutrition influencers and stakeholders in 13 countries. 

Want more reading?

Lucky you! We have the full 87 page 2025 update right here.

Read the full report [PDF]
Previous Sustainability Reports