April 7, 2008—Fulton Provision Company, a subsidiary of SYSCO, recently became the first meat processor and distributor in the US to be certified for sustainable business practices. Fulton was certified by the national nonprofit Food Alliance after undergoing a third-party audit of their facilities that covered such concerns as: reduction of toxic and hazardous materials, conservation of energy and water, and reduction of waste with reuse and recycling.
Eco-friendly steps that Fulton Provision Company has already taken include installing energy- efficient lighting with a dimmer system that turns off lights automatically in empty rooms; installing self-closing doors on all coolers; and recycling paper, cardboard, steel drums, aluminum, and damaged pallets. Fulton also uses recycling water chillers on two packaging machines, which prevents clean city water from being pumped into the sewer.
Fulton’s future goals include adding additional recycling water chillers to packaging machines, replacing older processing machines with more efficient models that will substantially reduce daily power spikes, and recycling packaging film. Fulton is also working with a local company to develop a method for converting solid, inedible fat and trimmings into biodiesel.
