West Liberty Foods LLC announced that its Tremonton, Utah facility has successfully achieved 'landfill free' status. This status was independently verified by NSF International Strategic Registrations Ltd. (NSF-ISR), a leader in management systems registrations whose parent organization NSF International writes standards and tests that certify products for the food, water, building products and consumer goods industries. West Liberty Foods is among the first companies in the United States to have its

'landfill free' claim verified by a third party organization, a major milestone in the food industry.

The NSF-ISR verification process was used to ensure that West Liberty Foods could demonstrate the total waste from its Tremonton facility entering the landfill was less than the industry acceptable 1%. Through working to accomplish this status, West Liberty Foods' Tremonton facility has successfully diverted nearly 3.5 million pounds of annual waste from the local landfill.

“West Liberty Foods is excited by the positive environmental impact achieved by the combination of our staff and state-of-the-art facilities,” says Gerald Lessard, vice president and chief operating officer for West Liberty Foods. "Our commitment has always been to set the industry standard for food safety, and now we've been able to become a leader in the environmental arena as well."

West Liberty Foods developed a two-step approach to accomplishing this status. First, the facility completed an internal audit to assess current practices. This audit allowed the facility to increase its recycling initiatives by identifying local vendors to recycle waste for energy. After the audit, internal processes were developed and extensive employee training was undertaken. West Liberty Foods' employees are critical to the overall success of this program.

“West Liberty Foods is one of the first companies to have independently verified its 'landfill free' claim by an independent third party organization” says Kirk Hansen, business development manager with NSF International. “Independent verification demonstrates transparency and communicates peace of mind to consumers.”

As a result of the success seen in Tremonton, West Liberty Foods plans to duplicate the 'landfill free' program in its remaining facilities located in Mount Pleasant, Iowa and West Liberty, Iowa.

Source: West Liberty Foods LLC