TUCKER, Ga. — The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association recently announced the recipients of the 2025 Clean Water Award: Tyson Foods in Danville, Va., and Perdue Foods in Lewiston, N.C. This annual award honors poultry facilities that demonstrate exceptional performance in wastewater treatment, water reuse, and overall sustainability, USPOULTRY noted.
The awards are presented in two categories: pretreatment and full treatment. The pretreatment category covers facilities that partially treat their wastewater before discharging the effluent to a publicly owned treatment facility for further processing, while the full treatment category includes facilities that treat wastewater according to their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, USPOULTRY added in its award announcement.
Tyson Foods’ Danville, Va., wastewater facility is the recipient for the pretreatment category. The Danville facility received this honor for its commitment to workforce development, technological innovation, community engagement and environmental responsibility.
It is dedicated to ensuring the staff has all the necessary skills to be successful in their jobs through comprehensive training and education programs that provide classroom and hands-on experience, USPOULTRY said, adding that, the facility prioritizes sustainability by managing stormwater through bio-retention systems and ponds, repurposing byproducts into compost and maintaining green spaces that support local wildlife and pollinators.
Perdue Foods’ broiler processing facility in Lewiston, N.C., is the recipient for the full treatment category. This facility processes 347,000 birds per day and treats an average of 2.4 million gallons of wastewater daily, USPOULTRY noted.
The Lewiston Harvest Plant earned this honor for its groundbreaking sustainability initiatives that have set a new standard for environmental innovation. In partnership with industry leaders, the plant has completed two major environmental projects; one that converted methane from wastewater treatment into renewable natural gas (RNG) for customer use and another that commissioned an onsite carbon dioxide (CO2) facility that purified byproduct CO2 from RNG production into food-grade liquid CO2, USPOULTRY noted. These projects reduced greenhouse gas emissions at the facility by 99 percent.
“Winning the Clean Water Award, isn’t just recognition, it reflects years of hard work, innovation, and the shared commitment of our entire team of our entire team,” Drew Getty, Perdue’s senior vice president of environmental sustainability, said in a company statement. “Capturing methane, turning it into renewable energy, purifying CO2 — those are not easy wins, but they’re exactly the kind of progress we set out to make.”
“Through continuous performance tracking, reduction goals, and recycling and wastewater diversion programs, our environmental team ensures we continue to deliver measurable results and consistent progress,” Getty added.
An honorable mention with distinction was presented to Draper Valley Farms in Mount Vernon, Wash. in the pretreatment category, and to Pilgrim’s in Cold Spring, Minn., in the full treatment category.
“These facilities were chosen for this year’s Clean Water Awards because they demonstrate an exceptional commitment to innovation, sustainability and community stewardship,” USPOULTRY Chair Jonathan Cade, Hy-Line International, said. “From capturing and repurposing greenhouse gases to investing in advanced training and automation, they have set a new benchmark for operational excellence while protecting natural resources and strengthening their communities.”
