Smithfield Foods, Inc. and two Smithfield Packing Co. operating companies have earned honors from the state of Virginia’s 12th Annual Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards (GEEA) for Business and Industry for their environmental stewardship achievements during the past year.

Smithfield Foods’ corporate headquarters, Smithfield Packing South and Smithfield Transportation, all located in Smithfield, Va., were singled out for their environmental projects and programs in the category for large businesses or industries. Corporate headquarters received a gold award; Smithfield Transportation, a silver award; and Smithfield Packing South, a bronze award.

"We’re honored to receive these awards, which were made possible because of the dedication of our employees who have worked tirelessly to establish Smithfield Foods as a leader in environmental stewardship," said C. Larry Pope, president and chief executive officer of Smithfield Foods. "We are strong believers that each and every one of us has a responsibility to preserve our natural resources and that’s why we have made superior environmental performance a top priority at Smithfield Foods and all of our independent operating companies."

"Our stewardship efforts have significantly cut our energy and water usage and reduced wastewater, storm water, solid waste and air emissions," said Dennis H. Treacy, vice president of environmental and corporate affairs for Smithfield Foods.

GEEA is supported by Virginia’s governor, secretary of natural resources and Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The awards program encourages Virginia’s businesses and industries to implement the state’s pollution prevention policies and practice excellent environmental stewardship. It recognizes companies for their exemplary environmental achievements that go beyond compliance toward environmental stewardship. Since the program’s inception in 1995 it has been sponsored and co-hosted by the Virginia Manufacturers Association (VMA) and its VMA Outreach affiliate.

Recognized Projects

Smithfield Foods – The company’s ISO 14001-certified Environmental Management System (EMS) has completed its first three-year cycle of environmental projects saving water, electricity and fossil fuels and recycling cardboard, plastic and aluminum. During that time, the company has recycled 118,490,000 pounds of cardboard, saved 250,000,000 gallons of water, eliminated 716,000 pounds of air pollutants and burned 1,900,000 decatherms of biogas converted from treated wastewater.

Smithfield Packing South – The Smithfield plant has implemented significant operational changes, including revisions to the rendering operation, changes in the production lines and elimination of the hog processing operation. The company also replaced two boilers and upgraded two more to help reduce its environmental footprint in air emissions and conserve natural resources.

Smithfield Transportation – When renewing its lease for fleet vehicles, the company decided to switch to new vehicles with state-of-the art technologies that significantly reduce fuel consumption and emissions. In 2006, the new vehicles increased fuel efficiency by 20% and reduced diesel fuel consumption by 300,000 gallons.