Third-Party Recognition
In March 2011, three subsidiary facilities won four of the 10 American Meat Institute (AMI) Environmental Achievement Awards presented at the Annual Conference on Worker Safety, Human Resources and the Environment held in Kansas City, Missouri. These awards are presented to member companies that exceed regulatory requirements by designing and successfully implementing an innovative plant upgrade, environmental program, or outreach initiative.
The winners were as follows:
The Smithfield Packing Company, Inc. (Smithfield, VA)
- First Place: Environmental Outreach to the Public
- First Place: Pollution Prevention
Patrick Cudahy, Inc. (Cudahy, WI)
- Second Place: Environmental Outreach to the Public
John Morrell & Co. (Cincinnati, OH)
- Second Place: Resource Conservation
The AMI also recognized 33 Smithfield facilities with Environmental Recognition Program Awards. These awards were given in recognition of the facilities’ long-standing commitment to environmental stewardship through the organization and implementation of environmental management systems and/or achievement of ISO 14001 certification.
Smithfield has been included in the FTSE4Good Index, the responsible investment index, every year since 2006. In the latest FTSE4Good environmental, social, and governance ratings, Smithfield received an overall score of 85 out of 100. The score measures performance on a number of themes, including environmental management, climate change, human and labor rights, and corporate governance.
Project Submissions
As part of our sustainability efforts, all facilities submit at least one project to a third-party (e.g., state, trade association, charitable foundation, etc.) environmental/sustainability awards program. Over 93 percent of our facilities did so this past year.
Our Internal Awards Program
Each year we give Environmental Excellence Awards to projects and initiatives undertaken by our facilities that both help the environment and save money. On September 14, 2010, the winners were announced at our annual Environmental Excellence Awards banquet during our Environmental Training Conference in Omaha, Nebraska. Over 100 representatives of Smithfield Foods, John Morrell, Smithfield Packing Company, Farmland Foods, and Murphy-Brown attended.
Environmental Excellence Awards are given to specific people (or a team of people), while a President's Award is given when the project was the combined effort of a larger group. Our President’s Awards recognize large numbers of employees involved in specific projects. Winning programs are selected based on several factors, including environmental impact and social significance, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, originality, and technical value.
Cumulative Savings
As part of our new sustainability program, all Smithfield facilities submit at least one project to our internal awards program. In fiscal 2011, 92 percent of our facilities submitted at least one project for consideration. The projects submitted resulted in a cumulative savings as follows:
- 128 million gallons of water (equal to a year’s supply for roughly 880 U.S. households)
- 109,868 decatherms of natural gas (enough to heat about 2,745 U.S. households for a year)
- 17,402,247 kWh of electricity (enough to power some 465 U.S. households for a year)
- 2,336 tons of solid waste materials not sent to landfill (equal to the annual waste output of nearly 3,000 U.S. residents)
- 166,365 gallons of diesel fuel (enough to power 300 U.S. cars for a year)
- 3,397 tons of additional cardboard savings
These best practices are shared among other facilities, raising the standard throughout the company.
Cost reductions are reported per year.
2010 Environmental Excellence Awards Winners
This year, we recognized achievements in the following categories:
Cleaner/Greener Production Processes and/or Packaging
- First Place – Farmland (Milan, Missouri): Redesigned export box, saving 1.3 million square feet of cardboard a year, netting $91,000 in annual savings.
- Second Place – John Morrell (Sioux Falls, South Dakota): Purchased a bag machine that creates custom bags from roll stock. Eliminated the need to stock multiple bag sizes, reduced landfill waste, and saved $370,000.
- Third Place – North Side Foods (Arnold, Pennsylvania): Cut waste disposal costs by 25 percent ($100,000) by using a commercial digester to convert waste sludge to natural gas instead of being landfilled.
Energy and Water Conservation
- First Place – Murphy-Brown LLC Western Operations: Made company-wide energy improvements, cutting propane usage by 30 percent and saving $1.3 million.
- Second Place – North Side Foods (Cumming, Georgia): Eliminated processes requiring a boiler, saving 1.8 million gallons of water; 89,500 MCF of natural gas; and cutting six tons of air emissions. Reduced facility costs by $600,000.
- Third Place – Murphy Brown (Laurinburg [North Carolina] Feed Mill): Repurposed 8.4 million gallons of water that used to flood the basement to feed boiler and cut annual costs by $60,000 (90 percent).
- Fourth Place – Smithfield (Kinston, North Carolina): Reused cooling tower from another plant and saved 1 million gallons of water.
Waste Reduction and Pollution Prevention
- First Place – Smithfield Packing (Landover, Maryland): Put pickling solution in holding tanks, while cleaning equipment, saving $140,000 and 300,000 gallons of water.
- Second Place – John Morrell (Springdale, Ohio): Improved liquid smoke recycling and reuse process, reducing use by 37 percent and saving $477,000.
Community Outreach
- First Place – Circle 4 Farms (Milford, Utah): Leased idle farmland for $250,000 per year to wind farm, creating 20 permanent and 200 temporary local jobs.
- Second Place – Premium Pet Health (Denver, Colorado): Donated money earned through recycling efforts to a local animal shelter.
Winning facilities receive recognition by senior management and cash awards of $5,000, of which $3,000 goes to a charity of the winning team’s choice. This year’s charities included Ronald McDonald House, National FFA, American Cancer Society, American Red Cross, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the City of Milan, Missouri’s Parks and Recreation Department, and others.
2010 Smithfield’s President’s Award Winners
- Armour Eckrich (Junction City, Kansas) – Community Involvement: Employees participated in a number of events organized in the local community, including parades, Kansas State Fair, Self-Help Housing project, and Junction City cleaning day.
- Patrick Cudahy (Cudahy, Wisconsin) – Recovering from Structural Fire: Patrick Cudahy recovered from the largest structure fire in Wisconsin history without any injuries or personal damage to neighboring facilities, due to their preparedness and effective management. Carter Hanson was selected as this year's ”Zero Hero” for his efforts (see below).
- Smithfield Ferme (Romania) – Supported a variety of environmental protection programs (e.g., Millions of Trees, Earth Day, World Water Monitoring Day) and promoted modern agriculture by investing in modern manure management equipment.
Special Award
Carter Hanson, of the John Morrell Patrick Cudahy facility in Cudahy, Wisconsin, was named this year's “Zero Hero.” Hanson was recognized for his preparedness and ongoing management of the environmental issues that were encountered as a result of the fire that ravaged the Cudahy facility in July of 2009.
