Environment

Energy and Emissions

Our Commitment

Air quality and greenhouse gases (GHG) are a top concern for our team and the communities where we operate, and we are constantly looking for opportunities to improve our energy efficiency and reduce air emissions.

Reducing Energy and Greenhouse Gasses

Our environmental teams work to implement best practices for energy efficiency and to reduce GHG emissions across our operations.

We continuously invest in energy efficient technologies including LED lighting, real-time measurement devices and predictive maintenance, more efficient equipment, electrification of heating systems and transportation and more efficient refrigeration systems.

We are currently looking at opportunities to use waste-to-energy processes. To date, one of our facilities uses biogas as a renewable energy source and 100% of the electricity that our Tulip facilities source is renewable. In 2019, the share of indirect energy from renewable sources used at our U.S. facilities varied between 3% and 25%, depending on where the facilities were located.

2019 Progress

2020/Goals

Energy and Emissions

Progress to goals update, as of 2019,

11% reduction in natural gas usage intensity. Working toward a goal of 14%.

9% reduction in electricity use intensity. Working toward a goal of 12%.

14% reduction in GHG emissions. Met our goal of 14%.

 

*Goals set based on 2013, 2014, 2015 average baselines for our U.S. facilities

From 2018 to 2019, Pilgrim’s Global increased fuel use intensity by 2% and reduced electricity use intensity by 2%.

For our business units in the U.S. and Puerto Rico who participated in our 2020 goal-setting process, natural gas use intensity decreased by 11% and electricity use intensity decreased by 9% since 2015. Our teams will continue to stay focused on reducing energy use throughout our operations to meet our 14% reduction goal in natural gas and our 12% reduction goal in electricity by 2020.

We track direct GHG emissions from stationary and mobile sources (Scope 1), excluding manure emissions from our live animal operations, and energy indirect emissions (Scope 2). From 2018 to 2019, we reduced our GHG emission intensity by 5% across all Pilgrim’s operations.

In the U.S. and Puerto Rico, GHG emission intensity decreased 14% since 2015, successfully achieving our GHG emission reduction goal.

Energy Performance***

Total Fuel Use
(MMBTU)
2015* 2016 2017 2018 2019
Pilgrim’s U.S. and Puerto Rico 6,980,333 6,647,307 6,564,729 6,562,572 6,699,359
Pilgrim’s Mexico 627,934 679,075 691,750 667,097 693,184
Pilgrim’s Europe** 1,163,178 1,144,379 1,190,080 796,168 1,368,961

*Reported as an average of 2013, 2014 and 2015 data for purposes of goal setting

**Pilgrim’s acquired Tulip Limited in October of 2019; Tulip data has been included in Pilgrim’s Europe as of 2019

Fuel Use Intensity
(MMBTU per 100 lbs. of finished product)
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Pilgrim’s U.S. and Puerto Rico 0.073 0.069 0.066 0.066 0.066
Pilgrim’s Mexico 0.033 0.035 0.035 0.033 0.035
Pilgrim’s Europe** 0.095 0.094 0.090 0.059 0.068
Total Electricity Use
(kWh)
  2015* 2016 2017 2018 2019
Pilgrim’s U.S. and Puerto Rico 1,158,982,220 1,120,639,208 1,115,530,313 1,120,342,927 1,132,394,299
Pilgrim’s Mexico 128,593,055 131,344,064 130,633,456 136,779,309 139,446,183
Pilgrim’s Europe** 255,369,567 243,725,104 232,546,615 217,890,000 334,188,551

*Reported as an average of 2013, 2014 and 2015 data for purposes of goal setting

**Pilgrim’s acquired Tulip Limited in October of 2019; Tulip data has been included in Pilgrim’s Europe as of 2019

Electricity Use Intensity
(kWh per 100 lbs. of finished product)
  2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Pilgrim’s U.S. and Puerto Rico 12.17 11.70 11.20 11.31 11.08
Pilgrim’s Mexico 6.75 6.75 6.58 6.83 6.98
Pilgrim’s Europe** 20.93 19.96 17.50 16.09 16.52

**Pilgrim’s acquired Tulip Limited in October of 2019; Tulip data has been included in Pilgrim’s Europe as of 2019

***We make every effort to report accurate data. We provide updated data from previous years in cases where improved information is available. JBS USA/Pilgrim’s revisited data collection processes and as a result, this report includes some improved metrics from past years.

GHG Performance***

Scope 1 and 2 GHG Emissions
(Tons of CO2e)
2015* 2016 2017 2018 2019
Pilgrim’s U.S. and Puerto Rico 1,155,560 1,160,047 1,060,180 1,097,164 1,061,374
Pilgrim’s Mexico — 197,390 190,181 186,829 194,276
Pilgrim’s Europe** 220,111 189,929 166,804 148,085 202,611

*Reported as an average of 2013, 2014 and 2015 data for purposes of goal setting

**Pilgrim’s acquired Tulip Limited in October of 2019; Tulip data has been included in Pilgrim’s Europe as of 2019

GHG Emission Intensity
(Tons of CO2e per 100 lbs. of finished product)
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Pilgrim’s U.S. and Puerto Rico 0.01213 0.01211 0.01064 0.01107 0.01039
Pilgrim’s Mexico — 0.01015 0.00958 0.00933 0.00972
Pilgrim’s Europe** 0.01804 0.01555 0.01255 0.01094 0.01001

**Pilgrim’s acquired Tulip Limited in October of 2019; Tulip data has been included in Pilgrim’s Europe as of 2019

***We make every effort to report accurate data. We provide updated data from previous years in cases where improved information is available including a shift from national averages to regional factors when calculating Scope 2 emissions. JBS USA/Pilgrim’s revisited data collection and as a result, this report includes some improved metrics from past years.

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