SALISBURY, Md. – Perdue Farms announced on Feb. 26 that its Lewiston, North Carolina, poultry operation has been certified as GreenCircle Zero Waste.

Meeting these standards means 100 percent of the waste materials leaving the facility are diverted from landfill via GreenCircle’s acceptable means of diversion such as reuse, recycling, or incineration for energy, also known as waste-to-energy.

“The certification is important because it aligns with our vision to be the most trusted name in food and agriculture products and our goal to be good environmental stewards. It also continues our decades-long track record of environmental stewardship and responsible management of our resources,” said Steve Levitsky vice president of sustainability for Perdue Farms. “Our waste diversion goal is ambitious, and we chose GreenCircle because they have the most rigorous certification available on the market. As a company Perdue is focused on continuous improvement, and Lewiston is just the beginning.”

Levitsky said that Perdue is planning on having five additional facilities go through the audit and certification process by the end of 2022. The company also has five-year environmental sustainability goals, which include diverting 90 percent of solid waste generated and not sent to landfills by 2022.

Perdue’s Lewiston plant when through an audit and assessment process to receive the certification including, an audit of all waste streams, inspection of all waste receptacles and assessment of all third-party waste management companies to confirm management methods and diversion rates. GreenCircle provided additional recommendations for improvements.

“We commend Perdue’s commitment to transparency and continuous improvement,” said Tad Radzinski, certification officer at GreenCircle. “The goal of our Zero Waste to Landfill certification is to help companies understand where they are with waste minimization and zero waste programs. That information enables them to minimize waste and manage materials to reduce their environmental impact.”

Along with waste system, personal protective equipment worn by associates, the process used to minimize contamination of cardboard recycling stream and the reuse of oil onsite were a few examples shared by Perdue.