Premio Foods: Sustainability Policy
Vision: Premio Foods, Inc. is committed to becoming better stewards for the environment and communities in which we operate by:
Being a good corporate citizen
Respecting the law
Minimizing our impact on the environment
Continually evaluating our performance on Sustainability
The focal points for the Sustainability initiative are:
Energy usage
Utilities
Waste Minimization
Shipping
In trying to engage our customers, we are focused on some of the main sustainability areas consumers expect businesses to work towards:
- Pollution reduction
- Solid waste reduction
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions reduction
- Products/packaging design with environmentally-friendly contents and minimal packaging
- Efficient distribution and transportation of goods
- Natural resource conservation
- Energy use reduction
- Water use reduction
- Communication of environmental efforts to our employees and consumers
Our indicators used for tracking our progress:
- Percentage of packaging using recycled materials
- Packaging per unit of product
- Water usage per unit of product
- Electricity usage per unit of product
- Tons of waste recycled
- Percentage of product sourced within 200 miles
- Shipping cost per unit (an indicator of distance traveled)
- GHG emissions (as measured in MT/CO2e/lb produced)
- Solid waste generated (as measured in lbs generated/lb produced)
We have categorized our efforts into three main categories:
- Solid waste reduction efforts
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions reduction efforts
- Water usage reduction efforts
Solid waste reduction efforts
Our 2009 Successes:
- Packaging reduction (JH – CBG to discuss)
- Reduced use of absorbent tray pads in retail packages
- Increased the number of retail cartons in a master carton, reducing the amount of corrugated used per package
- Recycling
- Recycled 299.44 tons of corrugated cardboard
- Minimization
- Reduced by 90% FAX and paper usage for customer coordination and carrier communication by utilizing electronic communication
Our 2010 Planned Actions:
- Packaging reduction (JH – CBG to discuss)
- Recycling
- Conducted an assessment of recycling opportunities
- Focusing efforts on:
- Plastic
- Aluminum
- Foam
- Paper
- Oil
- Metal
Greenhouse Gas Emissions reduction efforts
Our 2009 Successes:
- Transportation
- Reduced LTL shipments by 29%
- Reduced truck pre-chilling wait times by 40%
- Other Projects
- Replaced freezer doors with efficient fast-closing insulated doors, resulting in energy savings
- Replaced compressor with more efficient, Energy-Star-rated compressor
- Renovated small freezer, replacing refrigeration system with more energy-efficient units
- Calculated facility's GHG emissions and set three-year goals for reductions
- Energy reduction efforts through Rutgers
- Engaged engineers from Rutgers University in a program to identify improvement projects in energy use
Our 2010 Planned Actions:
- Transportation (MR)
- Other Projects (AV)
- Energy reduction efforts through Rutgers
- Replacing metal halide lights, T-12 bulbs, and 120W incandescent bulbs with T-8 fluorescent bulbs
- Installing variable frequency drives on cooling tower fans, vacuum pumps, and air compressors
- Adjusting air-fuel ratio on steam boiler to improve efficiency
- Utilizing outside air supply in air compressors
- Eliminating compressed air leaks through a preventive leak maintenance program
- Replacing old, incandescent lamp exit signs with LED lamps
- Insulating loading dock doors
- Solar
- Installing a solar Photovoltaic (PV) system with an estimated annual electrical production of 54,570 kW/yr.
Water usage reduction efforts
Our 2009 Successes:
Our 2010 Planned Actions:
- Reusing water from evaporators in cooling towers
- Reducing boiler water usage by adjusting condensate return tank overflow on steam boiler
- Installing pressure nozzles on water lines used for sanitation
- Adjusting steam to water ratio to reduce water consumption during sanitation
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