56 The Hershey Company | 2021 ESG Report Environment The Big Picture Our Company Cocoa Responsible Sourcing and Human Rights Environment Our People Youth Community About This Report Innovating Waste Solutions Nearly a century ago, our founder Milton Hershey Raising Employee Awareness What’s Next established our first recycling center to reuse About Waste We are actively developing the future of manufacturing waste. Since then, we’ve maintained that our corporate waste-reduction strategy. We spirit of responsibility and that drive to find innovative Hershey employees are raising awareness know that reducing the impact of plastics and about the importance of reducing, reusing packaging and promoting circular economy solutions as we continually explore new ways to reduce, and recycling and are collaborating to approaches will continue to be one of Hershey’s reuse and recycle our waste. In 2021, we achieved a explore ways to address what to do about ESG priorities. new waste streams, such as the increased We are gaining additional insights and company-wide waste recycling rate of 85%. use of disposable masks. analytics about waste streams through more Hershey’s Tech Center campus and detailed monitoring and collaboration with headquarters have implemented a pilot Hershey Green Teams — all in an effort to drive Contributing to a Circular Economy PPE recycling program for hard-to-recycle continuous improvement. While applying circular economy principles, we Turning Waste Into items like disposable masks, hairnets, Resources in Brazil gloves and ear plugs using Zero Waste For a summary of our goals and KPIs aim to maximize the beneficial use of material Boxes from Terracycle. on eliminating waste, see page 61. that would otherwise be destined for landfill. Our plant in São Roque, Brazil, installed For example, the majority of unusable product an automatic composter to convert from our manufacturing facilities in Pennsylvania organic waste from the cafeteria into and beyond are sent to local processing fertilizer that it donates to two socio- facilities as an organic input that is recovered environmental projects in the local zero and transformed into a raw material used in the community, one focused on environmental waste achieved in two of agricultural sector. education and another on community our manufacturing facilities gardens. Both projects help support in 2021, and two additional food security for families and children in manufacturing facilities are Turning Waste Into need. Extra fertilizer is also available for at nearly 100% recycling Energy in Mexico employees to use. Hershey’s plant in Monterrey, Mexico, is Our Brazil team also partnered with a decreasing the amount of waste sent to supplier that turns waste into products, landfill by diverting some of Hershey’s such as plastic pallets and boxes, that nonrecyclable waste stream to a nearby can be used in plants. In addition, our cement manufacturing facility. This waste plant in Monterrey, Mexico, has been material, which contains recoverable sending sludge and peanut skins from its energy, is beneficially used as an alternative manufacturing processes to a composting fuel that substitutes the use of fossil fuels processor, achieving a 95% recycling rate for the cement manufacturing facility. This against waste generated. practice reduces CO emissions for the 2 cement manufacturer and contributes to a circular economy.