The Calavo Way: Waste and Water
Originally published in Calavo Grower's 2021 Sustainability Report
Calavo seeks to minimize pollution to land, water and air because we understand that responsibly managing our waste streams is important to our business and to the communities in which we operate. Each facility is subject to different legal and regulatory requirements and has different waste and water opportunities and challenges; however our approach remains consistent.
Solid Waste: Every facility has a program for managing solid waste and recycling. To the extent possible, we aim to divert waste away from the landfill to recycling, reuse or composting.
Hazardous Waste: All of our facilities are required to obtain and maintain relevant permits for the storage and transfer of hazardous waste, and we have policies and management systems in place at facilities to ensure materials are stored, labeled and handled properly.
Spills: We have procedures in place for spills, including roles and responsibilities, emergency notifications and mitigation steps.
Water Use: More than 99% of the water we withdraw is used for washing produce, cleaning our processing equipment and office sanitation and hygiene needs. Water recycling and reuse processes and technologies are the biggest opportunities for reducing our water use in the future.
Wastewater: Wastewater is tested at Calavo’s facilities in accordance with local and state requirements. We discharge to onsite wastewater treatment systems and municipal treatment systems, depending on the location of our operations.
Air Emissions: Each facility maintains the relevant permits for air quality. When necessary, air quality equipment and technology is installed to ensure we are always within allowable emissions.
2021 Waste and Water Highlights
- In 2021, Calavo set out to create a comprehensive recycling program across all facilities in our enterprise. We began analyzing our waste streams and vendors, and added waste tracking to our carbon accounting program to track related greenhouse gas emissions.
- Upon collection of three months’ worth of data, we were able to analyze trends and introduce recycling initiatives at all facilities, with a goal to redirect waste that formerly went to landfill, to a recycling commodity. Currently, all facilities actively recycle paper and cardboard, wood pallets, food waste, mixed plastics and metal.
- Throughout our packing and production processes, workstreams are set in place to optimize recycling. For example, corrugate is separated and placed in proximity to cardboard balers; wooden pallets are staged for pickup; and metal is placed in a specific bin for metal recycle.
- In 2021, we diverted 30,792 metric tons of waste from the landfill, or 69% of our our total waste stream.
