Cargill’s newly released 2010 corporate responsibility report, titled “Growing Together,” highlights the company’s efforts across a variety of different operational elements, including food safety, responsible supply chains, environmental innovation, rural development, workplace safety and community engagement.
With regard to environmental stewardship, Cargill reports that it is:
- Using biogas to displace 20 to 25 percent of natural gas demand at its North American beef processing plants, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1.3 million metric tons in the last four years.
- Becoming more energy efficient. For each unit of production, the company improved energy efficiency by 11 percent from its fiscal 2001 baseline. Cargill admits that falls short of its goal of 20 percent, yet says it has identified the skills and management systems needed to improve in the future. Cargill also measures energy use per $1,000 in sales, and by that measure the company is 24 percent more efficient from its baseline.
- Transforming the company’s knowledge about improving energy efficiency at its own locations into a business called Cargill Process Optimizers, which helps customers significantly improve their yields, energy efficiency and water efficiency.
I was pleased to see that Cargill also devotes a significant portion of its CSR report to a discussion of the company’s work in responsible supply chains and sourcing. For instance, in this section Cargill describes how it: (more…)
