Sustainability Is A Continuous Improvement, Not An Endpoint

“Sustainability is a continuous improvement, not an endpoint,” said Dr. Marty Mat lock, executive director, Office for Sustainability, University of Arkansas, during his presentation on Science Based Metrics for Sustainable Outcomes in Poultry and Egg Production at USPOUL TRY’s 2014 Environmental Management Seminar in Destin, Fla. The annual conference is sponsored by U.S. Poultry & Egg Association and was held in collaboration with the National Poultry Waste Management Symposium.

In addition to emphasizing key sustainabi lity challenges for agriculture, Dr. Matlock explained that the pathway to continuous improvement relies on a process to define key performance indicators that can be benchmarked and measured to assess an industry’s improvement over time. Setting goals, a nother critical part of the process, allows industry to measure success and adapt strategy to improve outcomes.

Michele Boney, environmental compliance officer, West Liberty Foods, described the process West Liberty Foods took to become a designated “Landfill Free” company in her presentation on How to Become Landfill Free . Boney discussed the process analysis, relationship with local vendors and the method of determining and tracking waste streams. She remarked, “The whole key is motivation. We had t o empower team members that being ‘ Landfill Free ’ is a great thing.”