General Mills Meets U.S. Department of Energy "Better Plants Challenge" Goal Four Years Ahead of Schedule

MINNEAPOLIS, May 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2012, General Mills set a 10-year goal to improve energy efficiency in the company's 26 largest U.S.-based plants by 20 percent (from FY12-FY22). Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that General Mills achieved its goal four years ahead of plan, with a total efficiency improvement of 20.4 percent since fiscal year 2012. 

"We are honored to be recognized by the DOE for our progress to improve our efficiency and reduce our energy consumption," said John Church, chief supply chain officer and global business solutions officer at General Mills. "We started this journey by looking within our walls back in 2005 and since then have extended our commitments and work across our entire value chain. We have to own the entirety of our impact, and this is one of the many ways General Mills is working to reduce our impact on the environment."

The company's 20 percent improvement represents a total of over 2 Million MMBTU's of energy (combined electricity and natural gas) over the six years. In fiscal 2018, more than 60 energy efficiency and reduction projects were completed across the company. These improvement projects saved over 12 million kWh, delivered US$4.8 million in cost savings and avoided nearly 6.000 metric tons of CO₂e of GHG emissions.

As part of the company's greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reduction goal, each General Mills production facility has a target to reduce energy use by 2 percent annually, normalized to production. During fiscal 2018, this rate decreased by 2 percent compared to the prior year; absolute energy use decreased by 7 percent.

General Mills is listed on the 2018 Dow Jones Sustainability Index, and the 2018 CDP Climate A List and Newsweek Green Rankings (#34). For more information on General Mills' ambitious climate commitment, visit its 2019 Global Responsibility Report and A Taste of General Mills blog.

Since DOE launched the Better Buildings, Better Plants program in 2011, more than 900 private- and public-sector organizations have saved 1.38 quadrillion British thermal units, equivalent to $8.4 billion in energy and cost savings. For more on the Better Plants Challenge, visit the 2019 Better Buildings Annual Progress Report.

About General Mills
General Mills is a leading global food company that serves the world by making food people love. Its brands include Cheerios, Annie's, Yoplait, Nature Valley, Häagen-Dazs, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Old El Paso, Wanchai Ferry, Yoki, Blue and more. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, General Mills generated fiscal 2018 proforma net sales of U.S. $17.0 billion, including $1.3 billion from Blue Buffalo. In addition, General Mills' share of non-consolidated joint venture net sales totaled U.S. $1.1 billion.

SOURCE General Mills

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