Michelina's Commitment to the Environment

By Jen Wittkopf

As Michelina's has grown, so has our dedication to environmental sustainability. Getting the most out of every piece of equipment, product and process just makes sense.

That's why we've developed programs to reduce organic waste, conserve energy and minimize water consumption, just to name a few. And we're constantly looking for new ways to improve efficiencies. As Ryan Wright, Utilities/Refrigeration Manager, says, "It's the right thing to do -- for the environment, for our customers and for our company."

Here's a peek at a few of our current sustainability initiatives:

• Reducing organic waste: Since September 2004, an upgrade to our treatment plant system allowed us to reduce our amount of organic waste by over 4,000 tons per year.
• Saving millions of gallons of water: Upgrading boiler controls, water softeners and condensers has saved approximately 6,000,000 gallons of water per year. That's enough to fill nine Olympic-sized swimming pools.
• Less biomass in the city sewer: Our team designed a pre-treatment program to reduce the amount of biomass entering the city's sewer system. Over the first nine months of the program, the amount of waste decreased by an astonishing 96%! (From 642,213 pounds to 27,459 pounds).
• Saving even MORE water and natural gas: Recovering water that is used to cool equipment and reusing it as pre-heated water for the hot water system saves 180,000 gallons per day. And it saves the equivalent of one month's natural gas usage for the plant every year.
• Tons of recycling: We recycle 2,500 tons of cardboard annually as well as all plastic and metal containers used in our plant.

Our efforts to capture organic waste and convert it into methane to power our boilers was recognized by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) in "Innovations Review 2008: Making Green the New Business as Usual," EDF's inaugural report highlighting the latest trends and best practices for generating environmental and business benefits. www.EDF.org/InnovationsReview

Responsibility is central to the success of Michelina's. Our ongoing commitment to reducing our environmental "footprint" will help us make even more significant advances in the future.

If you liked this article you may also enjoy "The 'Green' Box."