Meat + Poultry - August 2009 - 34

GREEN PROCESSING

Kiepper

"That means collecting water from several points in the plant, moving it to one
single point and then moving it out to
multiple places so it can be used again."
There are also closed-use systems in
the meat and poultry industry. They are
used mostly in areas where a great deal
of water is not available. In this case, the
water would have to be made potable.
"On the other hand, in an open system, if we take the water wash and we
want to use it for feather picking or for
scalders, we don't have to bring the water
to the same level of potability," he says.
Kiepper adds water conservation includes reductions in water use, water loss
or water waste, as well as increasing meat
and poultry production without increasing the use of water. "Poultry and meat
processing, as well as other types of agriculture, have been excellent examples
of this type of water-savings, which is
great sustainability," he says.
He notes 50 years ago, 80 percent of
poultry plants produced whole carcasses and 20 percent did cutup processing.
"Now, more than 90 percent of poultry
processors do cutup, deboning and marinating. I can think of only one facility
processing complete birds now. All of this
requires complete water re-use," he says.
Much of what's going on in water savings is backed by research done by Kiepper and others at two nearby Pilgrim's
Pride processing plants, where a half-million chickens a day are slaughtered. "We
continue to get more production with the
same or even less water," he says.
34

MEAT&POULTRY

August 2009

If treating wastewater generated by a
meat processing plant can be called sustainability and improving its environment,
then Purnell's Sausage in Simpsonville,
Ky., has been practicing sustainability
since the early 1950s. The country sausage maker has been in business since
1944, when Fred B. Purnell gave up working for the railroad and began making
whole-hog sausage as a full-time family
business. He purchased land in Simpsonville in 1955, and built a new plant with
its own water and sewage treatment system. Todd Purnell, president of F.B. Purnell Sausage, says the company has been
practicing "sustainability" by modernizing its water and sewage treatment system over the years, since the beginning.
A major modernization took place in the
mid 1980s, and the company added onto
the treatment system about 10 years ago.
"It's called the SBR system, and we
still have room for growth with it," Purnell says. He explains Simpsonville is a

"Our operator likes to
fill up a glass beaker
with the treated water
and drink it in front of
the customers."
very small town, and didn't have much
of a municipal sewer system when the
plant was built. "As the town grew, the
water and sewer system grew as well,
and there was an option for us to begin
using the municipal facility.
"But our feeling was to continue to do
our own treatment in our plant," Purnell
adds. "We would have more control, and
we'd also have our own treatment bill.
We've never regretted it."
Purnell shows customers who visit the
plant how safe the wastewater is. "Our
operator likes to fill up a glass beaker
with the treated water and drink it in
front of the customers. At first, they're
horrified, but then he explains to them
how he's drinking water now extremely
pure since it's been treated by our own
treatment system. We're very proud of
that," Purnell says.

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Tyson's take
Tyson Foods, Springdale, Ark., is focusing on new areas involving its social and
environmental performance, says Kevin
Igli, senior vice president and chief environmental, health and safety officer.
"There are lots of definitions for what
we're trying to do: People, planet and
profit is one, using resources at a rate
they can be replaced faster than they are
used is another, meeting the needs of the
present without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their own
needs is still another," he says.
The company's most recent report is
called Sustainability - It's In Our Nature,
and outlines Tyson's economic, social and
environmental efforts. It's an outgrowth
of the company's first report, which was
called Living Our Core Values. "We believe sustainability is essentially doing the
right thing, whether it's protecting natural
resources, creating an alternative energy
source or feeding the hungry," Igli says.
"To focus even more on our corporate
responsibility, we're now members of the
Univ. of Arkansas Applied Sustainability Center, which helps agricultural and
businesses to make sustainability part of
their operations," he continues. "We're
also creating life-cycle analysis data,
looking at science and emerging technology and how they affect the sustainability practices of
our business."
Igli says a major focus of the
company's sustainability efforts
are tied to helping the environment by using alIgli
ternative fuels.
"Through a joint venture with Syntroleum, called Dynamic Fuels LLC,
we will be producing up to 75 million gallons of renewable fuel a year
from animal fat. This is renewable
diesel fuel, not biodiesel made from
fats, yellow greases and cooking oils
we're re-using."
Tyson is also a stakeholder in the
Global Reporting Initiative food sector. "GRI has developed sustainability

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Meat + Poultry - August 2009

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