Supporting a Healthier Planet

Bringing Our Promise to Life

Environmental stewardship has always been part of our heritage and today is a key consideration in virtually every aspect of our operations. To drive results across the entire organization–from our large-scale operations to how we do business in our offices and manufacturing facilities each day–we have established environmental impact goals. 

Reduce absolute scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 28% by 2030 from a 2019 base year*.  Reduce scope 3 GHG emissions 22% per unit of sold product by 2030 from a 2019 base year.

To strengthen our response to climate action, we consulted with EcoAct, an international organization supporting businesses’ efforts to reduce climate impact, to help establish science-based targets for our GHG emission goals. These goals were developed using the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) protocol and were submitted for their approval. The SBTi is a partnership between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

The adoption of science-based targets reflects our commitment to leveraging established standards to guide our strategy to support long-term resiliency. Targets are considered “science-based” if they are in line with what the latest climate science says is necessary to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

In developing our strategy to accomplish these goals, we have considered the role we must play in terms of net impact - recognizing there are opportunities for positive impacts via our operations through our scope 1 and scope 2 goal and supporting a positive impact across our value chain in partnership with our suppliers through our scope 3 target.

To deliver on these goals, we will continue to pursue mitigation and adaptation with a focus on innovating our processes, working with our suppliers and engaging peers in our industry to enact change that will have benefits beyond our own Company.

Achieve TRUE certification at 100% of our sites by 2030

We are focused on maintaining the momentum we have established around waste diversion. Our TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) certification goal will formalize our auditing, record keeping and training processes by institutionalizing our waste reduction activities and allowing us to ensure a consistent approach at our facilities.

The TRUE certification program helps facilities quantify their performance and find additional ways to improve their progress toward zero waste. Administered by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), the TRUE certification rates how well facilities perform in minimizing their nonhazardous solid wastes and maximizing their efficiency in the use of resources.  Facilities achieve certification by meeting seven minimum program requirements and attaining at least 31 points on the TRUE Application form.

To achieve this goal, we will continue to build on our facilities’ progress in reducing, reusing and recycling waste while maintaining our commitment to share learnings across the organization.

Reduce energy intensity at company-owned facilities by 5% by 2025 vs. 2019 base year

As we decouple GHG emissions from our total energy consumption by matching our total energy use, we have elected to establish a goal specific to energy, separate from our GHG emissions objective. This allows us to focus on enhancing our actions and how we view energy usage at each of our facilities.

A great example of how our teams have tackled energy management is the success of Project Evergreen. This initiative, launched at select facilities, focused on developing utility usage models based on key drivers to more accurately predict annual energy usage.

With lessons learned from Project Evergreen, we are approaching our energy goal with a commitment to thoroughly review our electricity and natural gas usage at each facility and leverage real-time monitoring to support timely responses to abnormal operating conditions. 

Reduce water intensity at company-owned facilities by 5% by 2025 vs. 2019 base year

Our facilities have made tremendous progress over the past decade in greatly reducing our water usage and this commitment was heightened through the work to deliver on our 2020 water-use-intensity goal. The new water intensity reduction goal reflects our continued commitment while recognizing the reality that water is essential in the recipes for many of our products and is critical to maintaining our quality and safety standards.

Similar to our energy goal, we will evaluate opportunities at each facility to drive progress. In realizing our 2020 goal, our teams investigated many areas for water savings through examining overflows, maintenance, condensation return, process equipment configurations, process controls and operational settings. Along with building on these learnings, we will review ways to safely reuse water that would typically be discarded to support other processes and functions.

Packaging Sustainability

In 2020, we introduced packaging sustainability goals that aim to reduce the environmental impact of our packaging. Our packaging goals are based on the following three principles: Support Recycling, Source Sustainably and Optimize Design. Packaging must meet the requirements of Compliance, Performance and Consumer Preference.

• Compliance refers to applicable food safety criteria and regulations;
• Performance requires meeting standards for suitability, durability, freshness and technical feasibility; and
• Consumer Preference requires packaging to delight consumers, meet value expectations and communicate end of life treatment.

Action plans target data collection, portfolio review, packaging supplier engagement and industry collaboration.

* The target boundary includes biogenic emissions and removals from bioenergy feedstocks