Solar Power
Sunnyland Mills invested in a solar “farm” on vacant land next to our building to celebrate our 72nd year in business. With the help of the California Solar Initiative, we decided to go back to bulgur’s roots of using solar power to produce our products. For the first 20 years of operation, Sunnyland Mills used the sun to dry the cooked wheat berries. We now use the sun to generate 171,216 kilowatts of power annually to help run our plant. By doing this, Sunnyland Mills reduces the amount of Carbon Dioxide, Nitrous Oxide and Sulphur Dioxide from going into the atmosphere.
Sunnyland Mills’ environmentally friendly practices:
- Skylights in our plant reduces the need for electric lighting.
- Recyclable products are used in the packaging of our products.
- Treated effluent removes most of the starch in our waste water.
- Our by-products are sold for animal feed.
- Recycled pallets are used to ship our products.
- Our recycling program includes waste paper and plastic.
- We transport and purchase our products by rail whenever possible.
- With the changes we made to our sanitation system we are saving approximately 450,000 gallons of water per year. Please join us in doing your part to save water by reducing where you can.
Biodiversity Policy
Sunnyland Mills Biodiversity Policy Statement
We recognize that we have both an impact and a dependence on biodiversity through our business operations and use of ecosystem services, such as agriculture, manufacturing, soil, and water.
Under our business principle of good corporate conduct, we aim to minimize our impact on biodiversity and the wider environment. Part of this commitment means minimizing or mitigating our impacts on biodiversity and linked ecosystem services, or where this is not appropriate or most beneficial, offsetting those impacts at a regional or national level.
In order to meet our biodiversity commitment:
- We will always ensure that our business is in compliance with all state, national and local regulations as a minimum requirement.
- We commit to assessing our impacts, i.e., we will identify areas of high biodiversity value and understand our impacts on ecosystem services.
- In addition, we will undertake impact assessments in areas of high biodiversity value where our ecological footprint is changing due to an increase or reduction in grain production or changes to production methods.
- We will also take steps to share information with suppliers, assisting them in understanding and managing their impacts on biodiversity, hence minimizing our impact throughout the supply chain, e.g., in the sourcing of grain processing chemicals, maintenance supplies and packaging materials.
- We will undertake these assessments, engaging with stakeholders such as farmers, conservation organizations, universities and governments, to understand local issues and take into account their needs and requirements.
- These assessments and stakeholder engagements will lead to action plans, to minimize, mitigate or offset our impacts, with effective monitoring mechanisms to ensure such action plans are implemented.
This statement will enhance the integration of biodiversity conservation principles into our business. We further believe that we are the stewards of our environment and that our environment is a gift from God.
Environmental Policy
Sunnyland Mills Environmental Policy
It is Sunnyland Mills’ policy to operate its business as a corporate citizen committed to sound environmental management and with concern for the well-being of our environment. Our goal is to ensure that company facilities and operations are in compliance with federal, state and local environmental standards. We believe that an appropriate balance can and should be achieved between environmental goals and economic health. We intend to be a leader in responsible environmental management. This requires each Sunnyland Mills employee to participate in and accept responsibility for achieving the following goals:
- Operation of our facilities in an environmentally sound manner.
- Safe handling of production materials and byproducts.
- Conservation and recycling of raw materials and reduction in the amount of waste generated by the company’s production processes.
The company’s commitment to these goals will enhance the integration of biodiversity conservation principles into our business, and includes the following specific elements:
- All Sunnyland Mills facilities will operate in an environmentally responsible manner and in compliance with environmental laws and regulations.
- Sunnyland Mills will maintain compliance programs to inform and train team members in the performance of their duty to fulfill the company’s environmental policies.
- Through audits and other means, the company will monitor operations to assure that practices in our workplaces conform to our policies.
- Sunnyland Mills’ management will make environmental responsiveness and resource conservation an integral part of business management, and will support finding sound solutions to such environmental problems as may arise.
- Approximately 40% of our electrical power will be generated by our on-site solar power facility.
Ethical Trading Policy
Sunnyland Mills is determined to achieve the highest standards of ethical trading throughout its extended supply chain. We seek to gain agreement to our Ethical Trading Policy from our suppliers.
We recognize that within our supply chains there are different national cultures with their own laws, norms and traditions, which we acknowledge and respect. Some suppliers will face more complex issues than others in implementing our Ethical Trading Policy. In these areas, Sunnyland Mills is committed to working with relevant bodies to deliver effective action plans for change. We believe that, by working together with our suppliers, we can strengthen our business and improve the quality of life of the people whom we touch.
The Ethical Trading Policy exists for the purposes of promoting safe and fair working conditions and the responsible management of environmental and social issues in the Sunnyland Mills supply chain.
Fraud & Corruption
Sunnyland Mills Fraud and Corruption Policy Statement
Sunnyland Mills requires all team members at all times to act honesty and with integrity and to safeguard the resources for which they are responsible. Fraud is a threat to these resources and hence must be a concern to all team members. The purpose of this statement is to set out responsibilities with regard to the prevention of fraud.
Sunnyland Mills should be responsible for:
- Developing and maintaining effective controls to prevent fraud.
- Carrying out vigorous and prompt investigations if fraud occurs.
- Taking appropriate legal and/or disciplinary action against perpetrators of fraud.
- Taking disciplinary action against supervisors where supervisory failures have contributed to the commission of the fraud.
Sunnyland Mills’ managers and supervisors should be responsible for:
- Identifying the risks to which systems and procedures are exposed.
- Developing and maintaining effective controls to prevent and detect fraud.
- Ensuring that controls are being complied with.
Sunnyland Mills’ individual team members of staff should be responsible for:
- Acting with propriety in the use of official resources and in the handling and use of corporate funds whether they are involved with cash or payments systems, receipts or dealing with contractors or suppliers.
- Reporting details immediately to (their line manager or next most senior manager) if they suspect that a fraud has been committed or see any suspicious acts or events.