ISTC’s latest case study features 2016 Illinois Sustainability Award winner Griffith Foods, a Alsip-headquartered manufacturer of seasonings, food textures and coatings, sauces, bakery and dough products, functional blends, and food safety solutions.
In 2015, the company conducted a materiality analysis to identify areas where they could make a positive impact on their triple bottom line — people, planet, and performance. They use this sustainability platform to drive their efforts within the company.
Some of the additional strategies they used to increase their efficiency and reduce their impact include:
- Implemented sustainable supplier initiatives, which included a Supplier Sustainability Survey. The survey asked questions about avoiding slavery or child labor practices, discrimination, improve community involvement, ethics, favoring recycled materials, water conservation, reducing waste, energy and pollution, species sponsorship and charitable contributions. Suppliers receive a score based on their responses, which the company considers when making supplier decisions.
- Launched a cafeteria recycling program with Aramark and Quincy Recycle.
- Implemented ISO 14001 in all facilities.
- Treats processed liquids at an on-site wastewater treatment plant, then sends it to the city for filtering and re-use. They truck the solids out of the plant and send them to be reused as farmland fertilizer.
Through these actions, Griffith Foods:
- increased cafeteria recycling by 50%
- funded 200,000 meals to combat hunger
- diverted 1.3 million pounds of liquid waste from landfiils
- reduced water use in sanitation by 537,000 gallons.