MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — The Maple Leaf Foods Heritage facility in Hamilton, Ont. has been awarded the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification by the Canada Green Building Council. LEED is an international certification recognizing sustainability excellence and green building leadership.
The company received a $2.6 million grant from the City of Hamilton supporting the incorporation of many innovative and environmentally responsible design features which provide environmental and community benefits.
Maple Leaf Foods officially opened the Hamilton, Ont. plant in 2014, allowing it to bring together operations from five other smaller sites into this more efficient and automated facility. The plant spans approximately 500,000 sq. ft. of floor space and employs more than 900 team members.
The Heritage facility has implemented several initiatives that have led to gradual reductions in the company’s environmental impact, including a national LED lighting retrofit program, equipment efficiency and optimization upgrades, ammonia heat recovery and wasted heat recovery systems, composting and recycling programs, control measures and closed-loop systems for water use and improvements to storage, handling and employee training to reduce food waste.
As a result, the facility has reduced its electricity intensity by 72.9 per cent, natural gas intensity by 47.2 per cent, water intensity by 54.8 per cent (all from a 2014 baseline), solid waste intensity by 51 per cent (from a 2015 baseline) and food waste intensity by 45.4 per cent (from a 2016 baseline). Key building features that went into creating the green facility include encouraging alternative transportation, such as a bicycle storage area and the use of low-emitting and fuel-efficient vehicles, optimizing energy performance, enhancing refrigeration management, reducing water use, using low-emitting materials and maximizing open space to encourage interaction with the environment, among others.
“We’re really proud of what we have achieved at our Hamilton, Ont. facility, and deeply appreciate the support we’ve received from the City of Hamilton,” says Randy Huffman, Chief Food Safety and Sustainability Officer, Maple Leaf Foods. “It has been a journey to get here, and we look forward to leveraging our learnings as we continue to pursue our vision of being the most sustainable protein company on earth.”
