Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL) reduced its environmental impact at its U.S. manufacturing facilities recently.

“We are making significant progress toward achieving the environmental sustainability goals we have outlined in our annual corporate responsibility report,” says Thomas E. Raymond, manager of environmental engineering at Hormel Foods.

“This success is the result of dedicated employee efforts and capital improvement projects.”

Highlights from fiscal year 2009 of progress made toward achieving the goals set by the company include:

• Reduced water use by more than 447 million gallons in 2009 compared to 2008 from its U.S. manufacturing operations. The company has reduced total water use by more than 590 million gallons or 9 percent over the past three years.

• Sent 7,275 fewer tons of solid waste to landfills in 2009 compared to 2008 from its U.S. manufacturing operations. The company has reduced the amount of solid waste sent to landfill by 16 percent over the past three years.

For the first time, Hormel Foods is reporting environmental information as normalized for production.

“Accounting for production levels allows us to benchmark and track our improvements and efficiencies,” Raymond says.

“We are continuously improving our processes and this is an example of how we are further developing and increasing the transparency of our corporate responsibility reporting.”

These highlights and additional information will be discussed in-depth in the 2009 Hormel Foods Corporate Responsibility Report, which will be released next month on the company’s website.