Practices

Smarter Practices, Better Outcomes

Our environmental practices are the foundation of sustaining a stronger, healthier planet.

Programs

Penford actively pursues and supports programs that are designed to reduce our carbon footprint. For example: we utilize carriers that participate in the SmartWay® Transport program to lessen the environmental impact of shipping and receiving products. We produce bio-fuels that help to support the world's growing energy needs all while utilizing a renewable raw material. We also operated some of the greenest potato starch facilities in the world.

Energy

We reduce and re-use energy where we can — all with a better earth in mind. To reduce electrical usage, our plants use energy-saving and energy efficient devices. By recapturing the heat generated in our plants and then using that heat for other parts of our processes, we use less natural gas. We participate in the Rocky Mountain Energy Conservation Product and our Cedar Rapids, IA plant has been awarded an ENERGY STAR® by the U.S. EPA for energy performance.

Water

Water is essential to life which is why we're always working on new ways to reduce water usage and prevent waste. Water usage is reduced at our plants by utilizing equipment to collect water at key areas in our process and then be re-used in other areas of the plant. We have installed equipment that uses less water to operate and because we use less water, we send less to the municipal wastewater plants for treatment.

Recycling & Waste Management

At Penford, our recycling efforts go way beyond recycling office paper, plastic and metal. From recycling our packaging, to utilizing almost 100% recyclable packaging, our goal is to minimize waste and keep materials out of the landfill.