Facilities Receive Awards For Their Environmental Stewardship Achievements

Smithfield, VA - The American Meat Institute (AMI) has recognized 63 Smithfield Foods, Inc. facilities in 26 states for their significant environmental stewardship efforts in their local communities during the past year.

Five of those facilities were also singled out for AMI's highest award, the Environmental Achievement Award, which recognizes environmental stewardship by companies that exceed AMI's compliance requirements in five categories: resource conservation; pollution prevention; upgrades to improve environmental sustainability; environmental outreach to the public; and environmental training programs.

In addition, 63 Smithfield Foods facilities earned AMI's Environmental Recognition Award, which honors companies that assess their own environmental challenges and develop unique solutions that encourage continuous improvement.

"I'm proud of the environmental accomplishments of our employees across the Smithfield family of companies," said C. Larry Pope, Smithfield Foods' president and chief executive officer. "We all understand that environmental stewardship isn't someone else's job. Thanks to the hard work of our employees, Smithfield Foods is an industry leader in environmental protection and we intend to remain just that."

Dennis Treacy, Smithfield Foods' vice president of environmental and corporate affairs, stressed the importance of continued improvement in the company's efforts to protect the environment. "There is always much more that can be done to improve the communities where our employees live, work and raise their families. We believe that an essential component to producing good food for families is doing it in a responsible way," Treacy said.

AMI Environmental Achievement Award

The five Smithfield Foods facilities, their winning categories and stewardship efforts:

Farmland Foods, Crete, Neb., first place, environmental outreach to the public; funds raised by recycling of scrap metal and used equipment at the plant are designated for college scholarships in cooperation with the local high school. -- Farmland Foods, Carroll, Iowa, second place, pollution prevention; to reduce biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) loading to the city wastewater treatment system, employees developed a process to preclean meat tubs with a squeegee before wash down. Organic material discharges were reduced by 50%. -- John Morrell & Co., Mohawk Packing Co. San Jose, Calif., second place, pollution prevention; the plant developed processes for reusing brine, significantly reducing water usage and wastewater discharge. -- Smithfield Beef Group, Green Bay, Wis., first place, resource conservation; the facility used its Environmental Management System (EMS) team and program to reduce water consumption by 13.5% through a variety of plantwide initiatives. -- Smithfield Packing Company, Wilson, N.C., second place, environmental training programs; the plant coordinated with a local community college to obtain training for plant mechanics through the Focused Industrial Training program.

AMI Environmental Recognition Award

The 63 Smithfield Foods facilities that received AMI's Environmental Recognition Award included:

SOURCE: The American Meat Institute