Environmental Practices

 

Facilities Overview
Our expanded facility is now almost 200,000 square feet, and has allowed us to make significant investments to improve our ability to efficiently process our products to meet the growing demand. We have invested in the improvement of several of our production areas, and we are committed to the continuous improvement of our food safety management systems.

 

Environmental Practices
At Starwest, we are aware that all of the decisions we make on a daily basis have an impact on our environment, and we want to ensure that our impact is a positive one. We do this by ensuring that our daily operations are in a manner consistent with the best environmental practices. We believe in the preservation of our planet, and for a healthier, cleaner world for generations to come. With our expansion and move, we were able to consolidate several of our warehouses into one, thus minimizing transportation costs and emissions. This additional space has also allowed us to operate more efficiently and safely, in addition to improving upon our environmental practices and waste management program.

 

Renewable Energy
Our energy objective is to offset much of our electricity needs by efficiently using power made from renewable resources. We support our local utility’s Greenergy® program, which allows us to purchase power from renewable sources like wind, water, sun, and biomass. The goal of the Greenergy® program is to build new, cleaner energy resources, and to reduce the need to build additional high-polluting power plants, thus creating a cleaner environment.

We are committed to reducing our energy consumption levels, and we have replaced much of our lighting with new low energy units. Many of our areas have motion sensor lights and/or are on timers, and as we continue to upgrade specific areas within our warehouse and offices, ideas and procedures for energy savings will be a major focus for us in the future.

 

Recycling and Waste

Our objective with our new waste management program has been to maximize our recycling efforts and efficiently use our materials, including minimizing our waste. We have been recycling much of our waste for years, and in 2013 we implemented a new, very comprehensive recycling and waste management plan, and began to thoroughly measure and track what we recycle and send to the landfill. Training of employees on both waste reduction and our recycling procedures continues to be a strong component of our program’s efforts, as we seek to simplify and streamline the recycling in our facility.

Shipping Materials: Our objective at Starwest is to efficiently use shipping materials which are (whenever possible) made from renewable materials, that are recyclable and biodegradable. We recycle all cardboard, paper, glass, and recyclable plastic in our facility.

We have clearly marked containers in work areas for all RECYCLABLE materials including:

 

• All copy and printing paper, including all of our product and shipping labels
• Cardboard Boxes (all are recyclable, reusable, biodegradable, and compostable)
• Interior packaging materials including packing paper and bubble wrap
• Aluminum
• Wood scraps
• Plastic
• Glass

 

Drums: When we are done with our drums we cut the metal ring off the top and recycle the drum cardboard material.

Wood pallets: We reuse the pallets in-house, but they are not recyclable. When we’re done with them, we sell them to a company to be reused.

Printer cartridges: Many of the printer ink cartridges we use are recyclable, and all are recycled.

Electronics: If working, they are often donated. If they are not working, then we work with the e-waste recyclers to ensure proper disposal and/or reuse.

Compost: Our green clippings are taken from our facility and recycled to create compost. Composting requires very little work and resources, and has a positive impact on the environment, including reducing our waste stream.