Kellogg and the Environment
Promoting and maintaining environmentally responsible practices is beneficial for everyone – our customers, consumers, employees and the communities in which we operate. At Kellogg Company, we take seriously our commitment to the environment. We conduct our business in ways that protect the environment and demonstrate good stewardship of our world’s natural resources. We work closely and cooperatively with local communities, suppliers and contractors, government agencies, and other organizations engaged in improving the environment. And we continually seek new ways to address the environmental cost and impact of our activities, products and services.
Read our Environmental Policy.
Environmental Practices
From Battle Creek to Korea, Kellogg Company strives to keep our communities clean and safe. We use heat recovery systems, convert waste food to animal feed, practice water conservation and reuse, and participate in packaging recycling programs. We get involved with local water stewardship programs, emergency-response committees and employee environmental training, among others.
Read more about our environmental efforts around the world.
Metrics
Kellogg recognizes the importance of measuring the impact of our manufacturing activities on the environment. Since 1997 we have collected information on our water and energy use, and on the amount of waste we generate. Our current focus is on energy use. While we have seen a 10% reduction in the energy used to produce our products since 1997, our goal is to continue this reduction.
Across our operations, Kellogg has a number of plants with modern wastewater treatment facilities designed to manage and minimize effluent discharges to the environment. All production facilities recycle waste food, packaging, used oil, wooden pallets and scrap metal. Over 80% of the waste generated at our manufacturing facilities is recycled.
Audits
Our environmental audit program includes periodic and complete evaluations of all our manufacturing practices. Audits include air and water quality, waste management practices, spill prevention and control, hazardous materials management, and employee awareness. Worldwide regulatory compliance is mandatory at every Kellogg facility.
Packaging
Before we even had an official environmental policy, Kellogg Company used safe, efficient and environmentally sound manufacturing methods. In fact, the first box that rolled off our production line was made of completely recycled material.
Today, almost all Kellogg cereal cartons are made of 100% recycled fiber, with at least 35% post-consumer material. We are continually looking at ways to minimize the packaging used for our products.
Because of our historic use of recycled fiber, our packaging itself helps communicate our environmental commitment with the recycling symbol.