Cargill’s Hazleton meat plant achieves landfill-free status
On 29 March this year, Michigan-based NSF International verified its landfill-free status after a detailed three-day audit and review of its paperwork.
Just three years ago, the plant sent 1,500 tonnes of waste to local landfill sites, including plastic, biosolids, paper and other materials. However, efforts to recycle were stepped up in mid-2013 and, within five months, had reduced the amount going to landfill by 280 tonnes, also saving the company $30,000.
Aaron Humes, general manager at the Hazleton plant, said: "Having successfully taken the first step, the Hazleton team decided to strive for something that had never been accomplished at Cargill, while pushing the envelope to better align with our global corporate focus on sustainable food production.
"We weren’t certain we could go all the way to landfill-free status, but we were confident that we could significantly improve our sustainability footprint."
