Photo of a girl inspecting the water at an outdoor project.

Smithfield Foods — Committed to Protecting the Environment

Providing good food responsibly means going above and beyond to be good stewards of the environment. Our commitment to environmental leadership is reflected in our ISO 14001 certification, the gold standard for environmental management, as well as in these other areas:

  • Implemented over 150 individual projects in 2007 resulting in reduced water usage, air emissions and greenhouse gas emissions, improved energy efficiency and increased recycling
  • Instituted a Web-based training program to provide standardized training and certification for each processing facility's Environmental Coordinator
  • Created a Bioenergy Task Force to explore alternative energy options
  • Participated in a pilot project on our company-owned farms to convert methane into electricity
  • Implemented new metrics software to better monitor and measure environmental performance
  • Received approval for two additional facilities to join the EPA’s Performance Track Program

First to achieve ISO 14001 environmental certification

Smithfield Foods was first in its industry to achieve ISO 14001 environmental certification for all U.S. hog production and pork and beef processing facilities. And our European operations are quickly following suit.

ISO 14001 is the international gold standard for environmental management. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO), based in Geneva, Switzerland, promotes the development and implementation of voluntary international standards for environmental management systems. If a facility receives ISO certification, it means that facility has implemented state-of-the-art environmental management systems that include formalized practices to protect the environment.

Our employees played significant roles in achieving this certification and continuous improvement remains a key part of their responsibilities.