The American Meat Institute (AMI) has recognized 63 Smithfield Foods, Inc. facilities in 26 states for their significant environmental stewardship efforts in their local communities during the past year.

Five of those facilities were also singled out for AMI’s highest award, the Environmental Achievement Award, which recognizes environmental stewardship by companies that exceed AMI’s compliance requirements in five categories: resource conservation; pollution prevention; upgrades to improve environmental sustainability; environmental outreach to the public; and environmental training programs.

In addition, 63 facilities earned AMI’s Environmental Recognition Award, which honors companies that assess their own environmental challenges and develop unique solutions that encourage continuous improvement.

“I’m proud of the environmental accomplishments of our employees across the Smithfield family of companies,” said C. Larry Pope, Smithfield Foods’ president and chief executive officer. “We all understand that environmental stewardship isn’t someone else’s job. Thanks to the hard work of our employees, Smithfield Foods is an industry leader in environmental protection and we intend to remain just that.”

Dennis Treacy, Smithfield Foods’ vice president of environmental and corporate affairs, stressed the importance of continued improvement in the company’s efforts to protect the environment.

“There is always much more that can be done to improve the communities where our employees live, work and raise their families,” Treacy said. “We believe that an essential component to producing good food for families is doing it in a responsible way.”

The five facilities that won Environmental Excellence Awards were:

Farmland Foods, Crete, Neb.
First Place, Environmental Outreach to the Public
Worked with the local high school to raise funds for college scholarships by recycling scrap metal and used equipment at the plant.

Farmland Foods, Carroll, Iowa
Second Place, Pollution Prevention
To reduce biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) loading to the city wastewater treatment system, employees developed a process to pre-clean meat tubs with a squeegee before wash down. Organic material discharges were reduced by 50%.

John Morrell & Co., Mohawk Packing Co., San Jose, Calif.
Second Place, Pollution Prevention
The plant developed processes for reusing brine, significantly reducing water usage and wastewater discharge.

Smithfield Beef Group, Green Bay, Wis.
First Place, Resource Conservation
The facility used its Environmental Management System (EMS) team and program to reduce water consumption by 13.5% through a variety of plant-wide initiatives.

Smithfield Packing Company, Wilson, N.C.
Second Place, Environmental Training Programs
The plant coordinated with a local community college to obtain training for plant mechanics through the Focused Industrial Training program.

The 63 Smithfield Foods facilities that received AMI's Environmental Recognition Award included:

Armour-Eckrich Meats LLC – Hastings, Neb.; Junction City, Kan.; Lufkin, Tex.; Mason City, Iowa; Omaha, Neb.; Peru, Ind.; St. Charles, Ill.; and St. James, Minn.

Cumberland Gap Provision Company – Middlesboro,

Cook’s Ham, Inc. – Kansas City, Mo.; Grayson, Ky.; and Lincoln, Neb.

Curly’s Foods, Inc. – Sioux City, Iowa

Farmland Foods, Inc. – Carroll and Denison, Iowa; Crete, Neb.; Independence, Mo.; Monmouth, Ill.; New Riegel, Ohio; Salt Lake City, Utah; Springfield, Mass.; and Wichita, Kan.

John Morrell & Co. – Great Bend, Kan.; Sioux City, Iowa; Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Springdale, Ohio

Mohawk Packing – San Jose, Calif.

Premium Pet Health, LLC – Frozen Petfood, Denver, Co. and Selective Pet Services, Sioux City, Iowa

Saratoga Chemical – North Lake, Ill.

Saratoga Seasonings – Elmhurst, Ill.

North Side Foods – Arnold, Pa. and Cumming, Ga

Smithfield Beef Group – Mopac Babylon Transfer, Babylon, N.Y.; Mopac Seaford Blending, Seaford, Del.; Mopac Seven Valleys Transfer, Seven Valleys, Pa.; Mopac Rendering, Elroy, Pa.; Mopac Rendering-Elizabethville Blending, Elizabethville, Pa.; Calf Source LLP, DePere, Wis.; Elizabethville Beef, Elizabethville, Pa.; Harvest and Processing facility, Green Bay, Wis.; Harvest and Processing Facility, Plainwell, Mich.; Souderton Beef, Souderton, Pa.; The Ohio Feedlot, Inc., South Charleston, Ohio; and Tolleson Facility, Tolleson, Ariz.

Stefano Foods, Inc. – Charlotte, N.C.

Smithfield – Benson Division, Benson, N.C.; Clayton Distribution Center, Clayton, N.C.; Clinton Division, Clinton, N.C.; Stadler’s Country Hams, Elon, N.C.; Ham & Products Division, Smithfield, Va.; Kinston Division (1 & 2), Kinston, N.C.; Landover Division, Landover, Md.; North Division, Smithfield, Va.; Plant City Division, Plant City, Fla.; Portsmouth Plant, Portsmouth, Va.; Smithfield Transportation, Smithfield, Va.; South Division, Smithfield, Va.; Specialty Foods Group, Williamsburg, Va., Tar Heel Division, Tar Heel, N.C.; Tar Heel Transportation, Tar Heel, N.C.; and Wilson Division, Wilson, N.C.