Awarded for Excellence in Pollution Prevention | JBS USA | Sustainability Report

Hyrum, UT, Beef Production Facility

Awarded for Excellence in Pollution Prevention

Our Hyrum, UT, Fed Beef facility was awarded First Place – Pollution Prevention in the highly competitive North American Meat Institute (NAMI) 2019 Environmental Achievement Awards, out of 60 participating facilities.  

Selected biennially, the NAMI Environmental Achievement Awards are bestowed upon member companies that go beyond environmental compliance by designing and successfully implementing an innovative facility upgrade or environmental program. The program’s four available award categories include:

  1. Resource Conservation;
  2. Pollution Prevention;
  3. Environmental Technology, Outreach and Training Programs; and
  4. Social and Economic Sustainability.

Our Hyrum, UT, Fed Beef team received First Place in the awards’ Pollution Prevention category for their outstanding achievements in greenhouse gas emissions reductions, greater Total Nitrogen removal, improved grease recovery / beneficial reuse, and decreased water use that not only benefitted local water supplies and the facility’s own water reclamation efforts, but also resulted in substantial natural gas use reductions. Some of the facility’s most notable accomplishments include:

  • Since 2015, the elimination of more than 50,000 tons per year of CO2emissions, or a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gases
  • A 62 percent reduction in NO3-N in the water returned to the river
  • A sales spread of approximately $525,000 annual revenue (at the time of the project) on industrial grade quality vs. feed grade quality grease
  • A 10 percent reduction in natural gas use intensity since 2016
  • A decrease in water use by more than 55 million gallons per year which is equivalent to the annual water used in 400 homes

Our Hyrum facility is an exemplary representation of our industry as evidenced by their stewardship and continued commitment to improve operational efficiencies and environmental impact.