Some waste, scrap, and by-product materials have little value. In fact, for many meat and poultry producers, animal waste represents a significant liability because it is considered hazardous and requires significant disposal costs.
Some companies, such as Smithfield Foods Inc. (the largest hog processor in the United States), gather the animal waste in "lagoons" and allow it to be used as "liquid fertilizer."
a. Review "Smithfield Foods: A Corporate Profile" at www.citizen.org/ documents/Smithfield.pdf as well as the environmental policies at the company's Web site (www.smithfi eldfoods.com/responsibility/EPS.aspx; last accessed 5/28/09). Discuss the ethical and legal implications of disposing of industrial waste in this manner.
b. What actions can people take to reduce this type of disposal?
c. Ethically, what obligation does the vendor/manufacturer of potentially toxic pollutants have to the consumer of the company's products?