SMITHFIELD, Va. — ProFood World selected several Smithfield Foods locations as winners of the 2018 Sustainability Excellence in Manufacturing Awards (SEMA). Those locations include: Salt Lake City, Utah; Kinston, North Carolina; and Middlesboro.

The annual awards program honors companies for exceptional sustainability achievements in food, beverage and consumer products manufacturing.

“At Smithfield, some of our most innovative and impactful sustainability projects begin with the teams at our facilities,” said Bill Gill, assistant vice president of sustainability for Smithfield Foods. “These award-winning facilities are just a few examples of how our on-the-ground teams are reducing our environmental footprint while producing products consumers love. We are excited to receive these awards, which show that we are delivering on our promise to produce ‘Good food. Responsibly.’”

Smithfield’s facility in Salt Lake City, Utah was honored for its plastic wrap savings project. With a minor investment in equipment upgrades, the facility prevented 16,800 pounds of solid waste from going to landfills and saved almost $16,000 in one year.

A meat recovery project at the company’s Kinston, North Carolina facility earned an award for its ability to save a significant amount of usable product from becoming waste that would otherwise be shipped off for rendering.

By reducing the thickness of packaging around ham steaks, Smithfield’s Middlesboro facility now uses 23 percent less packaging–saving more than $170,000.

“Smithfield earned three of the nine awards presented at this year’s Sustainability Excellence in Manufacturing Awards program,” said Joyce Fassl, editor-in-chief of ProFood World magazine and program director for ProFood Live. “Smithfield continues to lead the industry in sustainability efforts, having won more Sustainability Excellence in Manufacturing Awards than any other food or beverage company in the competition’s history.”

The 2018 winners were honored at the ProFood Live conference in June in Chicago, Illinois. The annual event is a one-day gathering for industry leaders to address solutions in manufacturing, automation, and sustainability.

Smithfield Foods is a $15 billion global food company and the world’s largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield, Eckrich, Nathan’s Famous, Farmland, Armour, Farmer John, Kretschmar, John Morrell, Cook’s, Gwaltney, Carando, Margherita, Curly’s, Healthy Ones, Morliny, Krakus and Berlinki. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com.