GHG Emissions, Industrial, Sourcing Renewables  -  October 30, 2018

Smithfield Foods expands biogas projects

Smithfield Foods, Inc. announced it will implement “manure-to-energy” projects across 90% of the company’s hog finishing spaces in North Carolina and Utah, and nearly all similar facilities in Missouri, over the next 10 years. These biogas projects are among a series of steps announced by the company designed to help meet its goal to reduce the company’s GHG emissions 25% by 2025.

"When we set an objective, we go big at Smithfield to achieve it," said Kenneth M. Sullivan, president and CEO of Smithfield Foods in a statement. He called the announcement "the culmination of decades spent studying and perfecting the commercial viability of ‘manure-to-energy’ projects. Our investment in these projects underscores our longstanding commitment to sustainability, as well as our promise to produce good food in a responsible way." Smithfield Foods is the world’s largest pork processor and hog producer.

Other projects announced as part of the nationwide expansion of Smithfield Renewables include converting existing anaerobic treatment lagoons to covered digesters or constructing new covered digesters to capture biogas, which will be transported to central processing facilities to be converted into renewable natural gas (RNG) in North Carolina, Missouri, and Utah. The company is also launching new programs that target GHG reductions and bolster Smithfield’s sustainability efforts at farms, plants, and throughout the company’s transportation network.

"Smithfield is demonstrating leadership by investing in solutions that build climate resilience and cut greenhouse gas emissions. Smithfield’s commitment to deploy technologies that convert methane into renewable biogas will substantially reduce emissions of a powerful greenhouse gas and create economic opportunities for rural communities. This commitment marks a welcome turning point for the industry," said Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund.

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