Perdue Farms site Zero Waste to Landfill certified

In an effort to help cut down on waste sent to landfills, Perdue Farms announced that its Lewiston, North Carolina, operation is now GreenCircle Zero Waste to Landfill certified. This means 100 percent of the waste materials leaving the facility are diverted from landfill via GreenCircle’s acceptable means of diversion such as reuse, recycling or waste to energy.

The initiative is part of Perdue Farms’ broader 5-year sustainability goals, including diverting 90 percent of solid waste generated at its facilities from landfill by 2022.

“The certification is important because it aligns with our vision to be the most trusted name in food and agriculture products and our goal to be good environmental stewards. It also continues our decades-long track record of environmental stewardship and responsible management of our resources,” Perdue Vice President of Sustainability Steve Levitsky says. “Our waste diversion goal is ambitious, and we chose GreenCircle because they have the most rigorous certification available on the market. As a company, Perdue is focused on continuous improvement, and [the] Lewiston [site] is just the beginning. We are planning to have five additional facilities go through the audit and certification process by the end of 2022.”

GreenCircle Zero Waste Diversion certification is designed to help companies demonstrate their commitment to minimizing waste and develop programs to responsibly manage all waste created in their facilities with a goal of diverting 100 percent from landfill.

To receive certification, Lewiston went through a rigorous audit and assessment process, including an audit of all waste streams, inspection of all waste receptacles and assessment of all third-party waste management companies to confirm management methods and diversion rates. Additionally, GreenCircle provided recommendations for improvement based on their findings.

“We commend Perdue’s commitment to transparency and continuous improvement,” Tad Radzinski, certification officer at GreenCircle, says. “The goal of our Zero Waste to Landfill certification is to help companies understand where they are with waste minimization and zero waste programs. That information enables them to minimize waste and manage materials to reduce their environmental impact.”

All aspects of the operations’ waste were assessed, including the personal protective equipment worn by associates, the process used to minimize contamination of the cardboard recycling stream, and the reuse of oil on-site, among other criteria.