McKee Foods achieves 'Zero Landfill Waste'

Gentry plant reduces waste sent to landfills from 84 tons per month to zero

Tim Broughton, vice president, Gentry Operations, of McKee Foods, explains how the Gentry plant achieved a goal of sending no waste to the landfill during a special luncheon at the plant on Thursday.

Tim Broughton, vice president, Gentry Operations, of McKee Foods, explains how the Gentry plant achieved a goal of sending no waste to the landfill during a special luncheon at the plant on Thursday.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

— In a throw-away society and at a time when most would not even consider such a daunting task, McKeeFoods in Gentry found a better way and achieved an amazing goal: Zero landfill waste.

What started as a grassroots effort by employees within the company was adopted by the company as one of its BHAGs(Big Hairy Audacious Goals). And through a team effort of all the employees, that goal became a reality in October, with no more waste being sent to the landfill, according to Tim Broughton, vice president, Gentry Operations.

“True to its corporate commitment to environmental stewardship, McKee Foods’ Gentry Operations has reachedzero landfill waste status just four years after its ‘Green Team’ was officially formed,” a company press release stated.

According to the release, the Gentry Operations Green Team was started by five employees who were concerned about landfill waste volume. They began to explore ways to reduce, reuse and recycle, to conserve natural resources and to explore any financial opportunities associated with such activities.

Jim Twiggs, who manages the Little Debbie stores in Gentry and Tontitown, was a major player in the effort, according to Broughton. Twiggs and other company employees shared their ideas with management and together they set out to reduce landfill waste.

With support from company management, the Green Team initially set a goal of 35 percent by January 2009, then expanded its members and continued to raise the bar on waste reduction to 70 percent by August 2009 and, ultimately, 100 percent, which was achieved when the last dumpster to the landfill left the facility in October 2011. According to Broughton, the plant reduced its waste sent to landfills from more than 84 tons in the month of October 2007 to zero in October of 2011.

Through recycling partnerships with other area companies, the McKee plant was able to reduce its landfill waste to 3 percent, according to Broughton.

That waste which formerly went to the landfill is now received and processed by Covanta Energy, a leading company that focuses on developingenergy-from-waste solutions.

Another amazing aspect to this achievement is that it did not negatively impact the company’s bottom line.

“We did this without negatively impacting our employees’ profit sharing, health benefits or jobs,” said Rusty McKee, executive vice president of manufacturing and grandson of company founders O.D. and Ruth McKee, explaining that the zero landfill goal was reached without reducing the profit sharing of employees, making cuts to their health benefits or cutting jobs.

McKee said Gentry is the onlyone of the company’s plants to have achieved zero landfill but anticipated that the other plant locations would be following Gentry’s lead. He described the achievement as well-fitting his grandfather’s favorite saying, “If there’s a better way, let’s find it” (quote attributed to Thomas Edison).

“I am extremely pleased with the efforts made by our employees to help our facility reach zero landfill waste status,” said Broughton. “We are blessed with wonderful people who choose to make a difference. It goes to show thatone spark of an idea, given the right level of enthusiasm, commitment and support, can become a real beacon that casts a positive light on our company, our community and all of Northwest Arkansas.”

To celebrate the achievement, Gentry Operations held a celebratory luncheon at the Gentry Operations facility Thursday.

The luncheon was attended by the company’s recycling partners, as well as local, state and federal officials. Among those in attendance were: Teresa Marks, director of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality; Kevin Johnston, mayor of the city of Gentry; Tim Summers, State Representative; aswell as representatives for U.S. Senator Mark Pryor, Congressman Steve Womack, the Arkansas Recycling Coalition, the Gentry and Siloam Springs Chamber of Commerce, Covanta Energy and Marck Recycling and Waste Reduction Resources.

For more information on McKee Foods’ environmental stance, please visit: www.mckeefoods.com/Business_Philosophy/Environment.htm.

About McKee Foods Corporation

Founded in 1934 by O.D. and Ruth McKee, McKee Foods Corporation has grown to become America’s leading family-owned snack cake bakery. McKeeFoods offers more than 90 varieties of Little Debbie and 32 varieties of Sunbelt snacks and cereals that are sold in all 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico. The company is headquartered in Collegedale, Tenn., and has production facilities in Gentry and in Stuarts Draft, Va. McKee Foods also owns the Collegedale-based subsidiaries Blue Planet Foods, manufacturer of high-quality granola products including Heartland cereals and pie shells, and Fieldstone Bakery, which provides institutional food service organizations with nutritious, high-quality snacks and cereals. For more information, visit the McKee Foods Corporation website at www.mckeefoods.com.

News, Pages 1 on 11/23/2011