Burgerville's Newest Environmental Efforts Will Prevent Nearly 25,000 Pounds of Waste from Reaching Landfills

(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) Vancouver, Wash - October 3, 2011 - Burgerville and ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston have partnered to introduce a new packaging bag that will prevent nearly  25,000 pounds of trash from reaching landfills each year. The 100-percent recyclable bag is now being used when Lamb Weston ships french fries to all 38 Burgerville restaurants.

“Burgerville has long been committed to diverting trash from landfills,” said Jeff Harvey, Burgerville president and CEO. “Our recycling and compost program, including recycling of cooking oil into biodiesel, all support this commitment. When we learned french fry packaging accounted for a large amount of our trash, we wanted to find a way to become more environmentally friendly.”   Lamb Weston has removed the polyethylene coating from the inside of bags and replaced it with a coating made from a water-based material that can be re-pulped and turned into new paper products.   “Packaging accounts for an estimated one-third of all the waste that ends up in U.S. landfills,” said Mark Hayden, senior vice president of Lamb Weston’s supply chain. “To remove part of our packaging from that statistic, Lamb Weston worked to change the composition of the bags we use. Together with Burgerville, we developed an easier-to-manage and more earth-friendly solution for french fry bags that demonstrates Lamb Weston’s commitment to sustainability and helps Burgerville achieve its goals.”   Lamb Weston and Burgerville estimate that for every 1,000 cases of french fries, 6,000 bags (equivalent to 380 pounds of waste) will be diverted from landfills. On average, Burgerville uses 66,000 cases of french fries annually, eliminating 25,000 pounds of waste with the new bag.   About Burgerville Burgerville is a quick service restaurant company with 38 locations throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington, serving guests fresh, great tasting food from a mission to “serve with love.” Burgerville’s values extend beyond locally grown berries, all-natural beef, Walla Walla onions and cage-free eggs. At Burgerville, the commitment to fresh, local and sustainable values is about helping people and communities thrive. The innovative company, established in 1961, is redefining industry norms by providing affordable health care for hourly employees and their dependents, purchasing wind power equal to their total energy use, converting used trans-fat free cooking oil to biodiesel and implementing comprehensive resource stewardship and recycling. For more information about Burgerville, please visit www.burgerville.com.    About Lamb Weston Lamb Weston makes quality frozen potato, sweet potato and other vegetable products for restaurants, retailers and other foodservice operations throughout the world. Lamb Weston is a brand of ConAgra Foods, Inc. (NYSE: CAG), one of North America’s leading food companies, with brands in 97 percent of America’s households. For more information, please visit www.lambweston.com or www.lambweston.com/delhi.   For more information on ConAgra Foods’ corporate responsibility initiatives: www.conagrafoods.com/corporateresponsibility   CONAG17251