The American Meat Institute has announced that
Tom Super has been named vice president of
public affairs for the Institute.
Tuskegee University’s Food and Nutritional
Sciences Advisory Board has announced the in-
duction of six new members: Paul Cole, Bell Flavor and Fragrances Inc.; Kurt
Deibel, H.J. Heinz Company; Ian Blount and Angela Cauley, Coalescences
Inc.; Jamal I. Berry, Sr., Ph.D., Proctor and Gamble; and Judy Wilson, U.S. De-
partment of Agriculture.
Fumigation Service & Supply, Inc. has promoted Todd Wilhelm to
Fumigation Manager of the Indianapolis, IN office.
Mike O’Brien will lead the Produce Marketing Association
(PMA)’s board of directors, and John Anderson, chairman, presi-
dent and CEO of The Oppenheimer Group, Coquitlam, British Co-
lumbia, Canada, will lead PMA’s Foundation for Industry Talent
board of directors.
Pelican Products, a company that designs and manufactures advanced lighting systems, has appointed Jeff
Cushing as vice president of information technology and
Jamie Mearns as vice president of finance.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) has
announced the election of Gary M. Rodkin, chief execu-
tive officer of ConAgra Foods, as chairman of the GMA Board of Directors.
Hormel Foods Specialty Products Division has an-
nounced that Peter Hoeper has been named national
sales manager, and Dan Evancho has been named
eastern regional manager.
Case Foods, Inc., a poultry company, and its Case
Farms-affiliated companies have announced the ap-
pointment of David Van Hoose to the position of president and chief operating
officer.
The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) named
three new officers to the NRAEF’s Board of Trustees for the 2011 term: Carlton
Curtis, Xavier Teixido and Denise Marie Fugo.
Cushing
Mearns
Wilhelm
Hoeper
Evancho
PlacesPeople&
Food, Beverage and Consumer Products Companies to Eliminate
Four Billion Pounds of Packaging by 2020
The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) has announced the results of survey research, indicating that food, beverage and consumer products manufacturers anticipate
eliminating four billion pounds of packaging waste nationwide by 2020. More than 1.5
billion pounds have already been avoided since 2005, and another 2. 5 billion pounds
are expected to be avoided by 2020. The four billion pounds represents a 19% reduction of reporting companies’ total average U.S. packaging weight.
“Across the board, the food, beverage and consumer products industry has been vig-
ilant in its efforts to reduce its environmental footprint,” said Pamela G. Bailey, presi-
dent and CEO of GMA. “When it comes to eliminating packaging from the supply
chain, we have already made significant progress, but we know we can do more. We
look forward meeting this goal to eliminate four billion pounds of packaging by 2020.”
The 1.5 billion pounds of packaging avoided since 2005 includes more than 800
million pounds of plastic and more than 500 million pounds of paper. Packaging im-
provements have spanned most product categories, with no single category dominat-
ing. Companies reported that they achieved the 2005–2010 reductions through the
success of more than 180 distinct improvement initiatives that included package re-
designs and increased use of recyclable inputs.
“In eliminating this packaging from
the supply chain, we are reducing a significant volume of waste that would otherwise end up in landfills, but the
benefits go far beyond that. Companies
are reporting that packaging improvements are also enabling them to ship
more units per truckload, reduce green
house gas emissions and conserve resources such as water and energy,” noted
GMA senior director, energy and environmental policy John Shanahan, who
discussed the research findings at the
American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ Sustainable Packaging Symposium
in Chicago, IL.
The greenhouse gas emissions
avoided by a four billion pound packaging reduction have the equivalent impact
of removing 815,000 cars from the road
or 363,000 homes from the energy grid
for 1 year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse
Gas Equivalency Calculator.
The report is based on the findings of
two surveys conducted for GMA by
McKinsey & Company and Georgetown
Economic Services. To download the report, go to www.gmaonline.org/
file-manager/Sustainability/
ReducingOurFootprint.pdf.
Online & Of Note
www.fsis.usda.gov/Food_
Defense_&_Emergency_Response/
index.asp
New FSIS Food Defense Risk
Mitigation Tool Online
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
Food Safety and Inspection Service
(FSIS) recently conducted vulnerability
assessments with industry representatives. A suggestion was made to develop a searchable, user-friendly tool
to facilitate the identification and selection of applicable mitigation strategies or countermeasures. To serve this
need, FSIS’ Office of Data Integration
and Food Protection developed a
Food Defense Risk Mitigation Tool, an
online resource for plant owners and
operators.
(News continued on page 71)
