Submitted Photo Nestle Purina’s Dunkirk manufacturing facility is its sixth site to achieve zero waste to landfill status.

Nestle Purina has announced that its Dunkirk manufacturing facility — which produces popular pet food and treat brands such as Dog Chow, Purina Pro Plan and Busy — has achieved zero waste to landfill status.

The Dunkirk facility is Nestle Purina’s sixth location to achieve this significant milestone that supports Nestle’s global commitment to be landfill-free by 2020.

“We’re particularly proud of our employees whose dedication and passion for sustainability made this accomplishment possible,” said John Bear, vice president, product supply. “Purina’s culture inspires doing the right thing, which includes good environmental practices. We introduce the most efficient technologies and apply best practices to not only minimize waste, but also to optimize energy and water consumption.”

Reducing waste is a critical part of Purina’s sustainability roadmap, which identifies how the company can best add value for the environment and society to make the biggest positive influence.

Work continues at other Purina facilities, including offices and distribution centers, across North America to meet the global commitment to achieve zero waste to landfill status by 2020 or sooner.

Under Nestle global standards, to achieve zero waste to landfill status, a facility’s discarded materials are directed to destinations that specialize in recovering the ecological and/or economic value of the material.

“We have embraced the zero waste to landfill way of life here at the Dunkirk facility, and we’re committed to being a sustainable facility,” said Ron Bowers, facility manager. “It takes dedication and commitment from every associate every day to ensure that we as a facility are being environmentally responsible. We’re proud to be the sixth Nestle Purina facility in North America to reach this significant milestone.”

Nestle Purina’s measures to reduce waste to landfill focus on three key areas: employee engagement; improving processes to minimize generation of waste; and partnerships with credible vendors for composting, recycling, energy recovery and other forms of beneficial use in line with Nestle’s environmental sustainability guidelines and standards. All of Purina’s factories have externally verified environmental management systems through ISO 14001 certification.

Purina’s “war on waste” began in 2010, and since then, the company has reduced waste to landfills at manufacturing facilities in North America by 22 percent.

Purina’s six landfill-free factories add to the growing number of Nestle factories in the U.S. to achieve zero waste to landfill status. More information about Purina’s sustainability efforts can be found at www.purina.com/sustainability.