Is petfood going green? plant uses solar power and etc

[dog is my buddy]

By DebbiePhillipsDonaldson
No, I'm not talking about fuzzy, moldy kibble--I mean following sustainable practices. For example, recent news highlights new "green" buildings from both petfood manufacturers, like Purina, and suppliers, like Novus.

What type of sustainable practices is your company following, if any? Petfood-Connection.com member Jeffrey Bond posted a comment in the Sustainability group, saying he's heard of supply groups in other industries requiring suppliers to reduce their carbon footprints or risk losing business. Do you know of any similar requirements?

Purina plant uses solar power

Nestlé Purina PetCare officially unveiled and dedicated a new solar-panel array May 14 at the company’s petfood plant in Denver, Colorado, USA, according to an article from the Denver Business Journal.

The array is comprised of 467 panels and covers about 21,000 square feet on the roof of the plant.

About 100 kilowatts of power are produced by the panels – approximately 1% of the plant’s electricity needs.

“It makes Nestlé Purina the first petfood manufacturer to use any kind of renewable energy directly in the production of our petfood,” said Tom Plymell, operations performance manager at the plant.

If the system works well, Purina will consider putting solar systems on its dry petfood plants in Flagstaff, Arizona, USA, and Maricopa, California, USA, according to the article.

Novus receives LEED certification
Novus International Inc.’s new global headquarters in St. Charles, Missouri, USA received the Platinum LEED certification by the US Green Building Council today, according to the company.

The 90,000-square-foot building has an under-floor air distribution system and solar panels spread over a 5,000-square-foot area.

The headquarters includes 10 research labs, a fitness center and a cafeteria, in addition to office space. Much of the material used came from salvaged and recycled content.