Sustainability
At Morton, we are passionate about building a sustainable future for our company, the communities in which we operate and the world around us. We bring this passion to life through a wide range of business, social, and environmental programs that are designed with future generations in mind. We've accomplished a lot over the past century, but we know we can do more – and we will.
Over 160 years of thinking ahead.From our founder's living legacy of the Morton Arboretum to our continued efforts to eradicate iodine deficiency, read below to learn more about how Morton Salt is building a sustainable future.
Social
The enduring nature of our business is inextricably tied to the communities in which we live and work. In many areas, Morton has operated facilities for more than a century – and we are proud to be long-standing members of those communities. That's why we give back through cash contributions, in-kind donations and volunteer hours.
From supporting local community organizations to launching a national public service campaign on winter pet safety with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ("ASPCA"), Morton Salt is committed to effecting positive social change.
Our social commitments even extend to the global community. By offering iodized salt at no extra cost and working with groups such as UNICEF and Kiwanis International, Morton has been able assist in the fight to end iodine deficiency worldwide. This effort first began in 1924, when Morton was the first company to nationally market iodized salt in the U.S.
Adding iodine to salt may seem insignificant, but the impact is not. Iodine deficiency has been shown to impair fetal brain development, which may lead to a lifetime of intellectual challenges.1 In 1990, only about 20% of the world's households had access to iodized salt and were protected against Iodine Deficiency Disorders.2
After a major push, access to iodized salt now exceeds 70%, protecting 90 million newborns against significant fetal/infant mental impairment by iodine deficiency.3
Safety
Morton is known for its superior products – and part of our winning formula is our team's constant focus on health and safety.
In fact, we live by the following internal credo: "Nothing is more important to Morton Salt than health and safety – not production, not sales, not profit."
We bring this credo to life through comprehensive health and safety programs that encourage employee involvement and personal responsibility.
Every task that we perform is done with health and safety in mind, including product development; facility design and operation; and the transportation, sale, use, and final disposition of our products.
Our programs are even recognized as some of the best in the business because Morton employees practice safety in every aspect of their daily lives.
Morton is a member of OSHA's Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP). Approval into VPP is OSHA's official recognition of the outstanding efforts of employers and employees who have achieved exemplary occupational safety and health.
Quality
Ensuring the safety and quality of our products has always been at the core of Morton Salt. In fact, we believe it has helped to drive our long-term success.
At Morton, our quality programs are focused on the ingredients and materials we use to create and package our products. They also regulate the manufacturing, packaging and distribution of our products.
To ensure that our food grade products are as safe as possible, we follow manufacturing standards developed by the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI), an international organization that determines the best practices for the food industry. Most of our food manufacturing plants have achieved a grade "A" status under the British Retail Consortium requirements, which follows GFSI guidelines.
Across all of our product lines, we are committed to staying current with new regulations and industry best practices so that we can reassess the relevance of our requirements and guidelines on a regular basis.
Environment
At Morton, we recognize that our products rely on the Earth's natural resources. That's why we are committed to minimizing the impact that our business has on the environment through innovation across our operations.
Morton Salt is working to permanently reduce energy consumption at all our manufacturing facilities in an effort to shrink our carbon footprint and increase efficiency.
We recently completed an energy reduction project at one of our largest manufacturing facilities that resulted in dramatic energy reductions in our evaporative process. This project resulted in Morton reducing energy consumption by over 70% within the process, including a 90% reduction in natural gas usage. This reduction in direct greenhouse gas emissions from the facility is the equivalent of keeping over 4,000 cars off the road. We're proud of the success, and look forward to initiating similar projects across of our facilities.
In addition, we actively seek alternative energy programs. Solar applications have already been installed at several of our facilities, eliminating the need for outside power at several remote locations. We continue to look at wind power and other solutions that will help us lower our environmental impact even further.
We're also looking hard at more packaging initiatives to reduce waste and environmental impact. So far, we've increased the post-consumer fiber content in our paperboard packaging from 35% to 65%, offset packaging manufacturing with clean, renewable energy credits, and partnered with a company that plants trees to offset 100% of the carbon dioxide emitted in the paperboard production process. This effort alone is saving on average the equivalent of 50,000 trees per year, and keeping over 3 million pounds of waste out of landfills.
Spotlight on...The Morton Arboretum
Our commitment to the environment continues to be inspired by Joy Morton, the founder of Morton Salt. He founded The Morton Arboretum on his Lisle, IL property in 1922. His love for trees and the environment was passed down to him by his father, J. Sterling Morton, the founder of Arbor Day. Today, the family manifesto, "plant trees," comes to life within a 1,700-acre outdoor museum where Arboretum scientists conduct pioneering environmental research and innovative education programs are growing the next generation of tree stewards.
- Dietary Reference Intakes for Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Arsenic, Boron, Chromium, Copper, Iodine, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum, Nickel, Silicon, Vanadium and Zinc, Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences (US). 2000. pp 261-2.
- http://www.unicef.org/nutrition/index_iodine.html
- http://www.unicef.org/nutrition/index_iodine.html
