Maple Leaf Foods has won an award for reducing water use and greenhouse gas emissions at its hog processing plant in Brandon.
The American Meat Institute Foundation presented Maple Leaf with its Tier 2 award in April under the institute’s environmental recognition awards program.
The AMI uses the award to recognize processors that are minimizing environmental impacts and showing social responsibility.
The Brandon plant was recognized with a Tier 1 award last year, but continuing efforts to reduce water use and emissions led to the Tier 2 award.
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Brandon plant manager Leo Collins said smaller pump motors are an example of how the plant is reducing its environmental impact.
“From our perspective, most of it is around water reduction and our CO2 footprint,” he said.
“As an example, where historically we’ve used something as large as a 350 horsepower motor for a pump … we’ve found we can use a 50 horsepower motor …. So we reduce our energy usage there, and our water as well.”
Collins also said the plant’s waste water treatment system includes an anaerobic basin, which produces biogas that powers a boiler and heats water at the plant.
He said the measures are part of a larger mission to implement an environmental management system.
While it’s nice to win awards by taking such action, he said it’s also nice to save money.
“It’s both. If you can get both out of it, that’s great.”
Collins said continued improvements to the plant’s environmental man-agement systems will eventually earn it the highest standard, Tier 4, which is also certified by ISO, an international standards organization.
