General Mills is committed to protect and conserve natural resources by finding innovative new ways to reduce waste and our environmental footprint. We’re proud to be recognized by Newsweek as one the top 100 “Greenest Companies in America” and ranked in the top 10 of Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s "100 best Corporate Citizens". We continue to make progress against our environmental goals. General Mills has established global five-year sustainability goals for our manufacturing facilities. At the end of year four in May of 2009, we’ve surpassed our solid waste reduction goal, and are still progressing toward our energy, greenhouse gas and water goals. We have reduced our solid waste generation rate by 24.5 percent since 2005 – far surpassing our goal of 15 percent.
About 85 percent of all the waste generated at our manufacturing facilities is recycled or designated for some other beneficial use. Excess oat hulls used in the production of Cheerios® are being used as biomass fuel at General Mills oat milling facility in Fridley, Minn., the company’s first biomass-powered plant. The biomass burner will reduce the plant’s carbon footprint by an estimated 21 percent and save more than $500,000 in natural gas costs every year.
We’re working to improve the environmental performance of our packaging with an aim toward reducing our environmental footprint. The Yoplait® ParfaitProTM pouch uses a 75 percent reduction in packaging versus the traditional bulk tubs and lids.Pillsbury® TubeSet® Muffins use 80 percent less plastic than 18 pound pails. A win for the environment, the operator, and General Mills.
General Mills is the largest users of post-consumer recycled paper packaging in the U.S. and has been using recycled materials in its paperboard cartons since the 1930s. Gold Medal® baking mixes are packed in 100% recycled material paperboard cartons.
General Mills’ new distribution center in Social Circle, Georgia, is one of the largest buildings ever constructed to meet environmentally friendly LEED standards and enables us to more efficiently ship our products to customers.
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