The Smithfield Foods, Inc. "Smithfield" Environmental Excellence Awards program is an annual program that honors Smithfield subsidiaries that seek to go beyond environmental compliance.  Specifically, these awards recognize subsidiary personnel that look beyond compliance to focus on pollution prevention, enhanced environmental protection and stewardship, and compliance assurance.  This program encourages Smithfield subsidiaries to implement the Company’s environmental policy and to practice excellent environmental stewardship by recognizing outstanding efforts in this area each year.

Since inception of the program in 2001, the corporate Environmental Affairs Group has facilitated the process and hosted presentation of the awards in late summer/early fall each year.  The Environmental Affairs Group is proud to continue in this capacity, and to announce the 2009 program.

 Applications are due July 31, 2009. To submit awards please:

a) Please use the attached form to submit your application.
b) Please fill in all information
c) Submit by email, or provide a disk/cd with an electronic version along with your hard copy.
d) Please be sure to include contacts – both at the plant as well as any vendors or consultants so that others may take advantage of your experience.

Selection process

A panel of judges from the Environmental Affairs Group will award points in accordance with the weights indicated for each category below in choosing no less than 5 or more than 15 individual winners. These winners will be chosen in the following individual categories:

1: Wastewater Handling and Treatment
2: Environmental Training
3: Environmental Management (ISO14001)
4: Energy and Water Conservation
5: Waste Reduction – Pollution prevention
6: Cleaner/Greener Production Processes and/or Packaging
7: Best Recycling of a previous years project

While every effort will be made to choose a project from each category, the committee may choose to exclude a category and move towards additional awards in other categories if the merits of individual projects warrant such a move.

Points will be awarded/weighted based on the following schedule:

a) Environmental Impact/Social Significance – be sure to discuss how these impacts will enhance the Smithfield Foods, Inc. and how/if you were able to get these impacts out to 3rd parties. (40 points) b) Efficiency and Cost Effectiveness – include a cost calculation, along with capital, installation, and startup costs. Please also include a calculation of the percentage reduction involved. This will allow incrementally smaller projects to compete with large projects (a plant that uses only 50,000 gallons per day and reduces water by 50% is just as important as a facility that uses 2 millions gallons a day and reduces usage by 50,000 gallons a day! – a 2.5% reduction) (25 points)
c) Originality and Innovativeness/Use of a previous project – equal points will be given either for original thought or the use of a previous project within another facility. Remember – the idea of these awards is to spread the knowledge. Also, additional bonus points will be added if you completed the project in a number of your facilities. (10 points, also plus an additional 5 points for utilizing a previous project at your facility or using the same project at more than on facility.)
d) Technical Value and Transferability – be sure to describe not only how to complete the project at another facility – but to describe pitfalls and unforeseen problems/costs that you incurred that could be avoided at another facility. (25 points – 5 additional points available if the project has already been shared with another subsidiary)
e) Was a project submitted for every facility within the subsidiary? Once again, since a book of all projects will be published – it is important to hear about all environmental/savings projects. Extra credit will be awarded to all submissions within a subsidiary that has submissions from all plants.( plus 5 points – every facility, plus 10 points – every facility submitted more than one project)
f) Current project – projects that are 3 years old or older will receive less credit than current projects. This will allow good projects that do not win to be resubmitted the next year for consideration – while still encouraging new projects every year. (1 year – 0 points, 2 years (-5 points) 3 years (-10 points)

In addition to the 6 major categories, a maximum of 5 President’s Environmental Excellence Awards will be given out, at the discretion of the Company, to specific facilities/farms. Conditions for such an award can include:

1) Exemplary Compliance
2) Environmental Stewardship
3) Community Outreach
4) Exemplary Participation/Steal this project program – encouraging facilities to "steal" or re-use past projects in their own facilities.

It is expected that at least one application be received from every facility.  Please consider the pool of EMP projects now underway as well as all of your related energy projects. 

Each individual award recipient will receive a $2,000 team cash award along with an additional $3,000 to be donated to a local charity of the recipients choosing.  Smithfield Foods, Inc. encourages that the charity recipients be tied to local environmental projects, but any non-profit organization will quality.  For accounting purposes, the $3,000 checks for charitable donations will be issued out of Smithfield Foods, Inc.  The $2,000 team cash awards are to be split equally among team members and issued as a payroll bonus out of each recipient’s respective payroll department.  This amount can be reimbursed through an inter-company billing sent to Jeff Deel’s attention at Smithfield Foods, Inc. 

Each President’s award winner will receive a $3,000 check.  Since these are not individual awards – no individual cash award will be issued.  Instead, the entire $3,000 will be available for one or more charities – as decided by the winner.  It is encouraged that the check go to a charity that is involved in local environmental projects, but any non-profit will qualify.

Applications are due by July 31st, 2009 (once again – by email or electronic submission).  Submissions will be reviewed and the winners selected on or before August 28th, 2009.  The award program will be scheduled along with the combined annual environmental and safety training scheduled to occur in fall.  The awards dinner will be the evening of second day of the Environmental conference.

Any Smithfield Foods’ subsidiary, member of management, or employee is eligible.  Any project of program commenced, undertaken, or completed during fiscal year 2008 or 2009 is eligible for awards.  Older projects may be considered, but will be at a distinct disadvantage to more current projects.  When submitted, the project, program, or technology must be operational, functional, and any savings of natural resources or monies documented and compared with projected savings.  Please remember to classify your project into one of the 7 categories for judging.

Finally, please remember to fill in ALL requested items on the attached word document for consideration in the Awards program.

Applications and any questions should be directed by July 31st to:

Applications and any questions should be directed by April 18th to:
Robert (Buddy) Harris
Ph: (757) 356-6707

All submissions to:
Robert (Buddy) Harris

Thanks, and we look forward to hearing about your environmental accomplishments this year!!