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 129 projects in 2008 and 124 projects in 2009 that resulted in reduced water usage, lower greenhouse gas emissions, increased recycling and less waste disposal
  • Developed a required, Web-based training program for all wastewater treatment system operators that has been approved for continuing education credits in seven states
  • Expanded the existing training program for the environmental coordinators at our facilities to include three years of coursework
  • Continued to include acquisitions and international operations as part of our ISO 14001 certification with 578 locations currently certified

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.