Kraft Foods, Inc. Receives Top State Honor for Cutting Waste

VISALIA—For outstanding commitment to effective waste reduction and resource-efficient business practices in 1999, the California Integrated Waste Management Board–the state's primary recycling agency–has honored Kraft Foods, Inc. of Visalia as one of 10 "Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP) of the Year" winners.

"California is focused on attaining a 50 percent waste diversion level next year," said Waste Board Member Daniel G. Pennington, who made the award at a ceremony held in Visalia. "The business community's participation in waste reduction and recycling will play a vital role in achieving this mandated goal. That is why it is such a pleasure to recognize and present Kraft Foods, Inc. with this award."

Like other companies, Kraft turned its waste reduction and recycling into a profitable venture. The business substantially cut its yearly garbage disposal costs by reducing what it used to throw away. Kraft's Visalia plant donates thousands of pounds of edible food products to Foodlink of Tulare County. In addition, the Visalia facility has 230 team members dedicated to the company's environmental policies and waste reduction. All food waste from the Visalia plant is sent to the company's feed mill in Goshen to be recycled. Kraft is considered the largest producer of cottage cheese in the world. Waste products from sour cream and cottage cheese production are dried and combined with a corn byproduct to be sold as animal feed in the Central Valley. This streamlined reuse process turns food processing waste into a profitable business product. Largely due to Kraft's waste reduction activities and donations to Foodlink, the company recently won the "Large Business of the Year" award in Visalia.

For a complete list of all WRAP winners, including location and business profiles for each, please visit us online at www.ciwmb.ca.gov/WRAP/.

More than half of what California throws away is generated by its strong business sector. Because of this, State waste officials point out that any attempt to move California to legislatively mandated waste diversion levels will require that private businesses and companies lead the way in reducing and recycling their wastes.

In 1993, the Board established WRAP to honor businesses making outstanding efforts to use resources efficiently and reduce the amount of solid waste sent to landfills. To date, the Board has honored more than 2,300 businesses for waste management programs saving tens of millions of dollars in unnecessary disposal costs while recycling tons of waste materials once thrown away. In 1998 alone, WRAP winners saved themselves more than $50 million by re-using or reducing waste. Since 1990, California has diverted an estimated 120 million tons of residential and commercial trash from landfills, reducing its impact on the environment and offering residents a statewide average of 28 years of remaining landfill capacity.

In presenting the WRAP of the Year award to Kraft, Waste Board Member Pennington said, "It is gratifying to watch businesses adopt environmentally beneficial practices like waste reduction and recycling and, in the process, find that going green can put businesses in the black."

The WRAP awards are part of the Waste Board's larger effort to help local governments meet the requirements of AB 939, the state mandate to keep 50 percent of trash out of California landfills in 2000. Winners receive a WRAP window decal and are granted full use of the Board's camera-ready WRAP recycling logo on promotional materials and at events, a fact more and more conscientious consumers appreciate by "shopping green."

Kraft previously received recognition for its Visalia plant in 1993 when the Waste Board selected the company as a WRAP winner for its waste reduction efforts. This is the first time the company has been chosen as an outstanding WRAP of the Year winner.

Other WRAP of the Year winners for 1999 are the Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Los Angeles, Cagwin and Dorward Landscape Contractors of Novato, Investec of Santa Barbara, the Memorial Hospitals Association in Modesto, Pebble Beach Company in Monterey County, the Straus Family Creamery in Marshall, Swinerton and Walberg Company in San Francisco, Trips for Kids/Re-Cyclery in San Rafael, and the Unisys Corporation in San Diego.

The six-member Integrated Waste Management Board is responsible for protecting the public's health and safety and the environment through management of the estimated 56 million tons of solid waste generated in California each year. The Board's mandate is to work in partnership with local government, industry, and the public to achieve a 50 percent reduction in waste disposed by the year 2000, while ensuring environmentally safe landfill disposal capacity. Currently, California's diversion rate is at an all-time high of 33 percent.

The Waste Board is one of six boards and departments within the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA).

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