Ferrara Candy Company goes zero waste

Ferrara Candy Company, headquartered in Oakbrook Terrace and best known for brands including Lemonhead, Red Hots, Brach's and Trolli, is taking sustainability matters into its own hands, one plant at a time. The company's Forest Park Plant has achieved its going-green goal to become a zero-waste-to-landfill facility, according to John Conversa, the company's director of U.S. manufacturing.

The company had been recycling cardboard and metal drums for a number of years and decided to take it a step further in 2015 when they began a partnership with VIM Recyclers. Through this partnership, the Forest Park plant started a more labor-intensive and costly process of segregating waste (cardboard, clear film, strapping, wood, metal and shrink wrap film) into separate recycling bins, based on the material. By the end of 2015, the plant achieved nearly a 3:1 recycle to landfill ratio and reduced the amount of materials sent to the landfill to 400 tons.

The plant decided to continue their efforts in 2016 by purchasing a drum crusher which allowed them to load more drums on each truck, reducing the number of recycling pick-ups from four, to one, per week. Additionally, the material that is segregated through this process is transported to Indianapolis where it is converted into renewable energy. Through these extra steps taken by the plant, which packs 140 million lbs. of candy annually, 2 million lbs. of materials were recycled and prevented sending any scraps to the landfill in 2016.

Ferrara Candy Company has worked diligently to earn this Zero-Waste-to-Landfill status, and is proudly showcasing its commitment to being a good neighbor and corporate citizen with a new sign on the outside of the Forest Park facility.