(Essay: ethics) Some waste, scrap, or by-product material have little value.

In fact, for many meat and poultry producers, animal waste represents a sig¬ nificant liability because it is considered hazardous and requires significant disposal costs. For example, one environmental group filed a lawsuit against Smithfield Foods, Inc., the largest hog processor in the United States, for “deliberately fouling water, air and soil as part of a strategy to drive compet¬ ing small farmers out of business.” The suit alleges that by ignoring waste treatment, the company can produce pork “so cheaply that independent farmers can’t compete.”11 Alternatively, other companies have found environmentally friendly or inexpensive ways to dispose of animal waste. For example, Perdue Farms Incorporated prides itself on quality poultry and environmentally safe waste disposal.

a. Review the Smithfield Foods, Inc., SEC Form 10-K report, especially the sections entitled “Nutrient Management and Other Environmental Issues” and “Regulation,” for the year ended April 30, 2000, and comment on whether the company’s disposition of industrial waste is a “cheap” alternative.

b. Discuss the ethical and legal implications of disposing of industrial waste in this manner.
C. What actions can people take to reduce this type of incident?

d. Ethically, what obligation does the vendor/manufacturer of these indus¬ trial materials have to the consumer of them? LO1.