Canadian Poultry Magazine

Aviagen publishes inaugural North American sustainability report

By Aviagen Inc.   

Features Companies Profiles Business/Policy Sustainability United States

Oct. 16, 2012, Huntsville, AL – Aviagen, Inc. announced that it has published its inaugural sustainability report to the company’s website. The report contains information about the company’s operational sustainability performance during calendar year 2011 for its North American operations as it relates to economic, environmental, social, and governance factors. Following guidelines established by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Aviagen has provided the report of how the company is performing in a format that’s similar to financial reporting. Aviagen plans to issue a new report annually.

“Our goal is to assure a sustainable protein food source for the health of the world population. And for years, we’ve worked with stakeholders to ensure the genetic diversity, quality and environmental efficacy of our products, and to promote the overall health and welfare of the birds in our care,” said Ben Thompson, president, Aviagen, Inc. “Those who know Aviagen know that we’ve long focused on minimizing our impact on the environment, maintaining continuous improvement of internal processes, and encouraging social responsibility throughout our operations worldwide. This inaugural report creates a baseline against which we can measure and share with stakeholders our ongoing sustainability performance.”

Notable sustainability results or initiatives in the report were:

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  • Efficiency improvements made in 2010 to the feed processing unit in Athens, Alabama resulted in significant reductions in energy usage and cost savings including:
    • Reduced kilowatt hours of electricity used by 15 percent which resulted in a savings of 43.9 cents per ton of feed – or $31,126 to the bottom line. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that generating a KWH of electricity in Alabama produces 1.31 pounds of CO2, therefore Aviagen’s carbon footprint on electricity use alone plummeted by 238.7 tons.
    • Reduced natural gas consumption by 28 percent which also reduced Aviagen’s carbon footprint by 333 tons, and saved the company another $75,510.
    • Cut diesel fuel consumption due to production of denser feed pellets which allowed Aviagen to deliver more feed per load resulting in fewer trips to deliver feed to internal farms. Those fewer round trips amounted to a total savings of $63,200 and reduced carbon emissions by another 43 tons.
  • Aviagen, Inc. consistently meets or exceeds the National Chicken Council (NCC) Animal Welfare requirements as reported by a third party auditor.
  • Employees are crucial to Aviagen. Aviagen has a strong commitment to the general welfare, training, and development of staff to ensure their potential and their individual contribution to the overall success of the business. Employee’s average length of service was over 9 years with 41 percent of current employees having been with the company over 10 years, and 11 percent employed for over 20 years.

Aviagen’s inaugural Sustainability report can be viewed on the GRI website www.globalreporting.org or on the company’s sustainability website www.aviagen.com/sustainability-statement.

For more information, please visit www.aviagen.com.


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