Energy and Emissions | JBS USA | Sustainability Report

Our Commitment

Air quality and greenhouse gases are a top concerns for our team and the communities where we operateas such we are constantly looking for opportunities to improve our energy efficiency and reduce air emissions.


Reducing Energy and Greenhouse Gasses

Our environmental teams work to implement best practices for energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions across our operations.

We continuously invest in energy efficient technologies including LED lighting, real-time measurement devices, predictive maintenance, more efficient equipment, electrification of heating systems and transportation and more efficient refrigeration systems.

To date, 12 of our facilities use biogas as a renewable energy source, and seven have implemented solar systems. These solar systems are located in the U.S., one in Australia and three in Europe. The share of indirect energy from renewable sources across our JBS USA facilities, globally, is approximately 4%. Pilgrim’s UK sources 100% renewable energy.

2020 Progress

2020/Goals

Energy & Emissions

We met our 12% electricity reduction target, achieving a 14% reduction.

16% decrease in natural gas use intensity, short of our 20% reduction target.

We achieved our 20% GHG emission intensity reduction goal.

*Goals set based on 2013, 2014, 2015 average baselines for our U.S. and Canadian facilities

As a global company, we decreased our fuel use intensity by 0.5% and increased our electricity use intensity by 4% from 2019 to 2020.  For our business units in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico that participated in our 2020 goal-setting process, natural gas use intensity decreased by 16% and electricity use intensity decreased by 14% since 2015, successfully achieving our electricity reduction goal.

We track direct greenhouse gas emissions from stationary and mobile sources (scope 1) (excluding enteric and manure emissions from our live animal operations) and indirect energy emissions (scope 2). From 2019 to 2020, we reduced our global greenhouse gas emission intensity by 5%. In the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, greenhouse gas emission intensity decreased 20% since 2015, meeting our 2020 reduction goal.

Our JBS USA Carriers business unit is focused on improving fuel efficiency as the primary means to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. In 2020, they improved fuel efficiency across the fleet by 0.15 miles per gallon and decreased GHG emissions by 3%.

Energy Performance5

Total Fuel Use
(MMBTU)
20152 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
JBS USA1 9,437,077 9,375,395 9,415,457 9,770,521 10,553,938 10,401,777
JBS Australia 1,951,955 1,768,194 1,676,521 1,720,692 1,917,911 1,459,695
Pilgrim’s USA3 6,980,333 6,647,307 6,564,729 6,562,572 6,699,359 6,261,448
Pilgrim’s Mexico 627,934 679,075 691,750 667,097 693,184 691,465
Pilgrim’s Europe4 1,163,178 875,461 925,256 954,605 1,504,938 1,598,199
Fuel Use Intensity
(MMBTU Per 100 lbs. of Finished Product)
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
JBS USA1 0.079 0.062 0.060 0.062 0.066 0.069
JBS Australia 0.076 0.081 0.077 0.075 0.083 0.073
Pilgrim’s USA3 0.073 0.069 0.066 0.066 0.066 0.061
Pilgrim’s Mexico 0.033 0.035 0.035 0.033 0.035 0.034
Pilgrim’s Europe4 0.095 0.072 0.070 0.071 0.074 0.085
Total Electricity Use
(kWh)
20152 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
JBS USA1 1,039,608,180 1,100,272,611 1,162,325,617 1,162,674,506 1,152,460,188 1,176,366,001
JBS Australia 302,770,805 294,466,860 292,587,604 308,172,972 303,203,572 289,148,703
Pilgrim’s USA3 1,158,982,220 1,120,639,208 1,115,530,313 1,120,342,927 1,132,394,299 1,111,499,948
Pilgrim’s Mexico 128,593,055 131,344,064 130,633,456 136,779,309 139,446,183 166,094,234
Pilgrim’s Europe4 255,369,567 228,021,256 233,243,323 234,775,857 355,017,648 331,767,528
Electricity Use Intensity
(kWh Per 100 lbs. of Finished Product)
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
JBS USA1 8.71 7.33 7.37 7.36 7.16 7.78
JBS Australia 11.82 13.56 13.39 13.42 13.13 14.54
Pilgrim’s USA3 12.17 11.70 11.20 11.31 11.08 10.82
Pilgrim’s Mexico 6.75 6.75 6.58 6.83 6.98 8.25
Pilgrim’s Europe4 20.93 18.67 17.55 17.34 17.55 17.67
  1. Includes U.S. and Canadian facilities, excluding poultry facilities
  2. Reported as an average of 2013, 2014 and 2015 data for purpose of goal-setting
  3. Includes U.S. and Puerto Rican facilities
  4. Pilgrim’s acquired Tulip Limited in October of 2019 whose name was then changed to Pilgrim’s UK, and that data is reported in 2019 within Pilgrim’s Europe.
  5. We make every effort to report accurate data. We provide updated data from previous years in cases where improved information is available. JBS Foods/Pilgrim’s revisited data collection processes and as a result, this report includes some improved metrics from past years.

Greenhouse Gas Performance5

Scope 1 and 2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions
(Tons of CO2e)
20152 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
JBS USA1 1,422,090 1,624,246 1,619,113 1,639,449 1,612,483 1,457,522
JBS Australia 589,715 565,559 549,427 545,316 541,042 503,285
Pilgrim’s USA 1,155,560 1,160,047 1,060,180 1,097,164 1,061,374 1,018,865
Pilgrim’s Mexico 197,390 190,181 186,829 194,276 174,847
Pilgrim’s Europe3 220,111 205,312 198,401 185,755 243,648 187,273
 Greenhouse Gas Emission Intensity
(Tons of CO2e Per 100 lbs. of Finished Product)
  2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
JBS USA1 0.01191 0.01081 0.01026 0.01038 0.01002 0.00964
JBS Australia 0.02303 0.02605 0.02514 0.02375 0.02342 0.02531
Pilgrim’s USA 0.01213 0.01211 0.01064 0.01107 0.01039 0.00992
Pilgrim’s Mexico 0.01015 0.00958 0.00933 0.00972 0.00868
Pilgrim’s Europe3 0.01804 0.01681 0.01493 0.01372 0.01204 0.00997
  1. Includes U.S. and Canadian facilities, excluding poultry facilities
  2. Reported as an average of 2013, 2014 and 2015 data
  3. Pilgrim’s acquired Tulip Limited in October of 2019 whose name was then changed to Pilgrim’s UK, and that data is reported in 2019 within Pilgrim’s Europe.
  4. We make every effort to report accurate data. We provide updated data from previous years in cases where improved information is available including a shift from national averages to regional factors when calculating Scope 2 emissions. JBS USA/Pilgrim’s revisited data collection and as a result, this report includes some improved metrics from past years.

Transportation Performance1

JBS USA Carriers
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Total Miles Driven 47,531,465 48,188,990 51,268,404 57,603,284 57,724,883
Total Gallons of Fuel Used 7,752,152 7,952,222 8,486,669 8,108,989 7,957,515
Fleet Fuel Efficiency (MPG) 6.13 6.06 6.04 7.10 7.25
Scope 1 Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Tons of CO2e) 87,257 89,509 95,525 91,282 88,979
  1. We make every effort to report accurate data. We provide updated data from previous years in cases where improved information is available. JBS Foods/Pilgrim’s revisited data collection processes and as a result, this report includes some improved metrics from past years.