West Liberty Foods L.L.C. — a co‐packer, private label manufacturer, and foodservice
supplier of sliced deli meats and fully cooked IQF products — said its West Liberty, Iowa, facility successfully achieved “landfill-free” status. This status was independently verified by Ann Arbor, Mich.-based NSF International Strategic Registrations Ltd. and dated December 13, 2012, meaning the company achieved its goal of becoming a landfill-free company within one calendar year. The NSF‐ISR verification process was used to ensure West Liberty Foods could demonstrate the total waste from its facility entering the landfill was less than 1 percent.

West Liberty Foods noted that it is among the first companies in the United States to have its landfill-free claim verified by a third-party organization, a major milestone in the food industry. Through working to accomplish this status, the company’s West Liberty facility successfully diverted more than 2 million pounds of waste from the local landfill (on an annual basis). As the primary processing facility, the West Liberty location faced some unique challenges, which were met head‐on by the team, resulting in environmentally friendly solutions.

“The West Liberty team used innovation to convert soiled plastic in to a combustible material that would be accepted by the disposal incinerator,” said Gerald Lessard, vice president and chief operating officer for West Liberty Foods. “The utilization of this technology exemplified the innovative character of West liberty Foods and our team members.”

The West Liberty location is the last of the company’s facilities to be verified as ‘landfill free’, the company noted, with the others being in Tremonton, Utah, in March 2012 and Mount Pleasant, Iowa, in July 2012. The company’s combined total waste saved from the landfill annually is now at 7.5 million pounds — or roughly 312 residential dump trucks, which represents waste from more than 265,000 households.

“This accomplishment marks a significant milestone in the history of our company, our industry and our state,” said Ed Garrett, president and CEO of West Liberty Foods. “Being landfill-free is a testament to our team, and it is my hope that other companies will see our success here and undertake similar initiatives in their own businesses.”

West Liberty Foods, headquartered in West Liberty, said it is committed to environmental excellence when serving its clients and the communities that it calls home. As a result of the success seen in Tremonton, Mount Pleasant and West Liberty, the company plans to hold an event celebrating the success in the spring of 2013 at the West Liberty facility.