Kellogg continuing to build on heritage of environmental stewardship established a century ago

Back in 1906, when the very first box of Kellogg's Corn Flakes came off the line at the newly opened Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flakes Co. factory, the packaging was made of 100 percent recycled paperboard.

In using sustainable material for his packages, W.K. Kellogg became the first to have made a commitment to being responsible stewards of the planet's natural resources in their personal and professional lives.

This, of course, was more than a century ago, when most of the world's population lived in rural areas, the automobile was in its infancy and the word "green" only referred to a color. Yet, Kellogg's visionary founder established a heritage of environmental stewardship that the company is continuing to build upon today throughout the Kellogg world.

As demonstrated in Kellogg's new Corporate Responsibility Report - now available at www.KelloggCompany.com/CR - environmental issues are increasingly shaping the context of business around the world.

For Kellogg to fulfill its vision of being the food company of choice, as an organization and as individuals the company must make responsible, informed decisions relating to a host of environmental issues. These range from strategically examining the ways the Kellogg company uses water and consumes energy to reducing the amount of paper and other waste the company contributes to the global waste stream.

A deeper shade of green

"Kellogg is taking a variety of measures to engage stakeholders inside and outside the company in an ongoing journey to become environmentally sustainable," says Ken Tabor, Vice President, Environmental Stewardship, Health and Safety.

For example, Kellogg is working with key external stakeholders - including industry associations, nonprofit organizations and government agencies - to further the achievement of company environmental stewardship goals, all of which are being made public through the report.

"We want to send a message that we are serious about environmental issues and to create greater transparency about our progress in these areas for future reports," says Diane Holdorf, Senior Director, Environmental Stewardship.

Stewardship success

In Europe, Kellogg employees show their environmental stewardship by planting trees.

Internally, Kellogg is working to be good stewards of natural resources and incorporating responsible practices at every location and at level within our global organization.

Kellogg has been using recycled paperboard for packages since W.K. Kellogg founded company. These kinds of practices have continued. Consider these accomplishments from around our Kellogg world:

• Kellogg opened its first facility certified by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in Hagerstown, Md., in 2008. Click here to learn more.

• In India, a Kellogg plant has reduced energy use per pound of product by 25 percent since 2006. This was achieved through improved combustion efficiency in the plant's steam generation system and redesign of the wastewater treatment aeration system.

• In 2007, the Lancaster, Pa. plant began using biogas from wastewater treatment plant as one source of fuel for boilers, thereby reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 3,300 metric tonnes annually.

• The plant in Querétaro, Mexico, saves more than 57 million gallons of water annually by reusing it for irrigation. In 2007, new, high-efficiency washing equipment was installed at this plant, which will save an additional seven million gallons annually.

• In the United Kingdom, Kellogg worked with the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme to identify items typically sent to landfill - such as used work garments - that could be reused or recycled. As a result, the company diverted 3.4 metric tonnes of waste from landfill.