Energy Efficiency, GHG Emissions, Industrial  -  June 5, 2018

Perdue Farms sets GHG reduction goals

With the release of its 2018 Company Stewardship Report, Perdue Farms announced a commitment to aggressive environmental sustainability goals, including a 30% reduction in Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions by 2022.

"Sustainability, for us, is more than efficiency, and its measure goes beyond producing more with less," said Jim Perdue, company chairman, in the report. "We strive to align our practices with the values of our stakeholders, and, in doing so, act with responsibility. Our sustainable business model is one that makes choices affordable."

The report noted progress to date compared with a 2015 baseline, including a 1.2% reduction in GHG emissions and a 2% reduction in electricity use. The company also reported increases of 1.2% in water use and 3.3% in fossil fuel use, adding "In 2018, we will focus on regaining our progress in reducing water and fossil fuel use to achieve our 2022 goals."

 The U.S. food and agriculture company reported that each of its major operations has an environmental scorecard to measure compliance, sustainability efforts, and associate involvement. "The scorecard drives continuous improvement, with facility and company goals for water reduction, recycling, energy conservation and CO₂ emissions," according to the report, which also noted that environmental stewardship is part of all associates’ annual company goals. Further, management bonus programs are tied to stewardship results.

Progress reported as part of this program included:

• LED lighting in break rooms, restrooms, locker rooms and hallways at our Bridgewater, Va., cooking plant is saving more than 77 kWh annually
• Management of pumps used in our Concord, N.C., cooking plant is saving 427 kWh every day
• Maximizing payloads of trailers traveling from our Dillon, S.C., operation to an outside rendering operation is estimated to reduce CO₂emissions by 274 metric tons per year
• LED lighting at our Gainesville, Ga., operation will reduce energy consumption by more than 58%
• Improved management of water used for plant sanitation and cleaning in Perry, Ga., is saving 180,000 gallons per day