After achieving many of its 2015 environmental goals ahead of schedule in 2013, the Hershey Company continued to make progress against its newly established 2017 goals. Hershey highlighted its progress toward those goals in its 2014 Corporate Social Responsibility Report.
Greenhouse gas emissions in Hershey’s US distribution and logistics dropped by 4.75 percent in 2014, compared to the 2013 baseline. Global GHG emissions decreased 0.4 percent in 2014. By 2017, the company has targeted a 10 percent GHG emissions reduction in its US distribution and logistics and a 15 percent global GHG emissions reduction.
Hershey achieved zero-waste-to-landfill status at its El Salto, Mexico, facility, bringing its total number of zero-waste-to-landfill facilities to 11. Through 26 company-wide initiatives, the chocolate maker reduced its waste per pound of product by 1.4 percent and reduced packaging waste by a cumulative 1.75 million pounds. The introduction of a Hershey’s Miniatures packaging redesign reduced the weight of each wrapper by 0.05 grams, which will result in saving 271,800 pounds of wrappers in one year. By 2017, the company aims to complete an additional 25 initiatives, resulting in the added cumulative elimination of 16 million pounds of packaging material.
Hershey achieved an 88.9 percent recycling rate in 2014 against its 2009 baseline, nearly reaching its 2017 goal of a 90 percent recycling rate.
Despite the company’s water-conservation pilot project launched in 2012, Hershey’s absolute water use increased by 2.8 percent in 2014. Projects implemented in 2014, including a desalination system in its Mexico operations, are expected to save hundreds of thousands of dollars and more than 20 million gallons of water.
Hershey received a number of honors related to its sustainability efforts. For the second consecutive year, Hershey was selected for the Dow Jones Sustainability World and North America Index. The company was also ranked 46 out of 400 in the Newsweek Green Rankings.
