The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognized Duke Manufacturing for its reduced energy use at its manufacturing facility in Sedalia, Missouri. The Energy Champion award recognizes savings of at least 250,000 BTUs or more than 15 percent total energy savings at the plant.

Duke Manufacturing completed a Save Energy Now assessment with the DOE Industrial Technologies Program, which strives to reduce industrial energy intensity by 25 percent or more in 10 years. The national program to date has saved 16 trillion BTUs of natural gas and has reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 2.3 metric tons.

“Our commitment to environmental sustainability and energy savings is an essential element of our production process and is as important to our customers as it is to us,” says Diann Gordon, director of quality at Duke Manufacturing. “Our goal is to continually improve our products so that our customers may serve the highest quality food with the smallest environmental impact.”

Beyond energy savings, Duke has launched a company wide commitment to sustainability, called “Project Green Shield,” an internal campaign that has reduced U.S. landfill waste by one third and recycled an average of 2.5 tons of paper, plastic, and cardboard and 140 tons of non-ferrous metals each month.