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Success Stories - Manufacturer
Success Stories
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Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) has undertaken many efforts to reduce waste at all of its locations worldwide. Waste reduction and recycling is rooted in the AMD culture, as evidenced by AMD's practices of donating surplus computer equipment, furniture, and sup-plies to non-profit organizations; recycling numerous materials including cardboard, plastics, wooden crates and pallets, beverage containers, scrap metal, and dry cell batteries; and sending landscape waste for composting. In 2000, waste reduction programs at AMD's U.S. sites in California and Texas resulted in reducing solid waste disposal by 1,917 tons. The company instituted a program to reuse cloth wipes and in 2000, nearly 6 tons of cloth wipes were laundered and reused at the Austin, Texas site. AMD recycled more than 1,200 pounds of consumer type dry-cell batteries and spent over $111,000 on recycled-content office products. AMD promotes employee awareness of reduction and recycling programs by distributing an employee recycling handbook, posting recycling program announcements on bulletin boards, and distributing information to employees during events such as the AMD Health Fair and AMD Benefits Fair.
To help employees select office equipment and supplies that have minimum environmental impact, AMD developed Green Procurement Guidelines that outline product characteristics such as packaging materials, end-of-life disposal, and energy usage. These are attributes that AMD employees consider before buying these products. Seven percent, or more than $100,000, of AMD’s 2001 purchases contained recycled materials. The company has a goal of annually purchasing 45,000 reams of photocopier paper containing postconsumer material, which would more than double its environmentally preferable purchases.
This semiconductor manufacturer also looks at ways to reduce its waste. Plastic items such as clean room shoe covers, polypropylene bouffants and beard covers, latex gloves, and wafer carriers are recycled. Plus, AMD steadily increased the amount of textile clean room wipers it launders and reuses each year, to 7 tons in 2001.
This 6,700-person company performs an impressive job with recycling collection as well: 577 tons of paper and cardboard, 145 tons of plastic, and 330 tons of metals.
NEC Electronics, Inc. – CA
Rather than throwing away surplus inventory this past year, NEC Electronics, Inc. sold equipment, furniture, and other extras through a public online auction that resulted in $100,000 of direct revenue for the innovative company. NEC employees also purchased electronics and furniture through a private auction. Through these measures, the company sold nearly 18 tons of materials for reuse and then donated several tons of furniture to classrooms. NEC also established the Employee Re-Use Center, providing a means for employees to obtain used office supplies rather than purchase new replacements. The company is progressing with plans to establish an Intranet site with recycling information and events, such as its Earth Day celebration that more than 600 people attended.
NEC made innovative advances in reducing waste from office products. NEC continued its toner cartridge reuse program, which diverted the disposal of 500 pounds of printer cartridges and allowed NEC to purchase toner at lower prices. The company networked many of its computers so employees can print directly to the copy machine, reducing paper use, toner use, and equipment maintenance, and saving NEC $20,000 in 2001.
As for reducing semiconductor production materials, NEC used a pilot program to sell more than 9 tons of material no longer useable in production for reuse in other areas. The company also distributed new recycling containers in one of its cafeterias and placed bins in every office. Widespread distribution of mixed paper collection boxes increased paper recycling by an estimated 15 to 20 percent, and newspaper bins placed in parking lots encouraged workers to bring in old issues from home. NEC refined its practice for recycling lawn and tree clippings, saving nearly $4,000 a year. The company also increased its purchase of products made from recycled material, including 100 percent recycled-content toilet paper and trash bags containing half the plastic of traditional liners. As a result of successfully achieving WasteWise goals, NEC diverted more than 247 tons of waste from disposal in 2001.
NEC Electronics America, Inc. – Roseville, CA
With more than an 80 percent diversion rate in 2005, employees at NEC Electronics America’s semiconductor manufacturing plant in Roseville, California, kept nearly 420 tons of waste out of the landfill, marking another successful year for this five-time award-winning company’s waste reduction program. In an effort to reduce packaging waste, NEC Electronics America embarked on a packaging reduction program, reusing more than 6,000 plastic shipping boxes. In addition to preventing the disposal of nearly 5 tons of material, the company reused plastic shipping boxes that contained 100 percent recycled material, thus enabling the company to expand its recycled products purchasing program. In 2005, NEC Electronics America also established an office reuse area and implemented a green procurement program. The company keeps its employees up to date about its waste reduction program and achievements by posting monthly reports on the company’s intranet site.
NEC Electronics America, Inc.—Manufacturing Facility in Roseville, CA
The test wafer is a key component of the waste reduction efforts at NEC Electronics America’s manufacturing plant in Roseville. Composed of more than 99 percent silicon, test wafers are used to verify process parameters in the production of semiconductors. In 2004, the company saved more than $360,000 by reusing wafers, eliminating the need to purchase approximately 36,000 new wafers and preventing the use of more than 4,000 pounds of virgin material. The company recycled another 1,115 pounds of wafers and purchased new wafers containing 100 percent recycled content. Overall, NEC Electronics America’s manufacturing plant in Roseville has an impressive 78 percent waste diversion rate.
In 2002, NEC Electronics America, Inc. (NECELAM) reduced waste by 6 percent at its Roseville Facility. The company attributes this impressive accomplishment to its employees, who reused more than 21 tons of equipment and recycled nearly 300 tons of materials. NEC uses an Environmental Health & Safety Intranet site to communicate waste reduction goals to employees. The site lists contact information for recycling personnel, identifies recycling drop-off sites, provides waste prevention ideas, and highlights company progress.
The Seydel Companies – Pendergrass, GA
The Seydel Companies, a manufacturer of chemicals used in textile processing, including fabric preparation, dying, printing, and finishing, and garment laundering and finishing, has incorporated WasteWise into its manufacturing activities. In 2005, Seydel increased the amount of recycled-content materials in its products to 30 percent, while increasing the volume of recycled raw PET purchased for manufacturing by 60 percent. Seydel incorporates a glycol distillate, previously sent to other companies for reuse, into a new product sold by the company. Seydel also refined nearly 3,900 tons of fats and oils into usable finished products. In 2005, Seydel’s waste reduction measures generated more than $518,000 in revenue.
Can reused fast food fryer oils be used to manufacture water repellent fabric? That is exactly what The Seydel Companies has been doing to decrease its impact on climate change. The company combined modified PET (#1) plastic with used vegetable oil from fast food fryers, efficiently developing a water repellent that it uses not only on textiles, but also on paper and wood! This new process decreases the amount of money used on virgin materials, while also greatly reducing GHG emissions, as less gas is emitted when products are manufactured with recycled materials instead of virgin materials.
Not every company can boast such a high rate of material collected for recycling, but The Seydel Companies worked hard to achieve this honor. And the company certainly takes it seriously, as Scott Seydel, CEO, said, “Our efforts to lessen our impact on the environment are a source of pride for all the Seydel associates.” The company also maintains a waste reduction relationship with its industrial neighbors by pooling recyclable material collection.
In 2001, Seydel collected enough paper products to allow 200 trees to keep growing and enough steel to prevent energy losses equivalent to 54 barrels of oil. This Georgia-based company also spent $372,000 on products containing recycled material and continues to work with its suppliers to increase this amount. In one of Seydel’s products, the company increased the amount of PET (#1) plastic content from 38 to 40 percent, or 131 tons.
The Seydel Companies integrates environmental performance into its fundamental goals. Seydel continuously evaluates the potential to reuse viable obsolete materials instead of disposing of them in a landfill, saving $481,000 and 658 tons of materials in 2000 by doing so. In 2000, Seydel also adapted its training program materials to the Internet, saving an estimated 700 pounds of paper, in addition to fuel for off-site travel. Additionally, the company increased electronic communication in day-to-day operations for items such as shipping logs, phone lists, reports, and meeting announcements. To reduce production waste, Seydel donated 1,000 pounds of excess cloth to a local senior center for quilt making and saved 6,892 pounds of glass and $4,329 by cleaning and reusing glass sample jars. Ongoing activities also included returning drums and totes to the vendor in a closed-loop recycling system and purchasing more than $350,000 of recycled-content products.
The Seydel Companies and its 109 employees conserved 500 pounds of paper by taking its business name off bulk mailings lists to reduce the amount of unwanted mail, donated 1,400 pounds of computer equipment to local schools, and cleaned and reused more than 3 tons of glass sample jars, saving more than $3,000. The Seydel Companies also returned more than 85 tons of plastic drums and totes to vendors in 1999, saving nearly $70,000.
The Seydel Companies and its 100 employees reduced 500 pounds of copier paper and saved $500 by encouraging double-sided copying, setting up phone lists and edits on e-mail, and using overheads in meetings instead of distributing handouts. The Seydel Companies also conserved 500 pounds of catalogs by contacting vendors who mail multiple catalogs and circulating magazines and articles instead of making personal copies.
Southern Mills, Inc. – Senoia, GA
Southern Mills, a textile company of 575 employees, manufactures thermal protective fabrics with end-use applications such as outer shells of firemen’s turnout coats and garments used in the petroleum, electrical, and gas utilities industries among other products. Southern Mills saved 8.5 tons of corrugated material by switching to reusable plastic cones and tubes and by initiating a plastic tube return program with customers. The company also reduced 1,100 pounds of coated paper drums by switching to a tote and delivery system for dyes and chemicals.
Southern Mills is constantly changing product specifications and improving procedures to reduce the amount of inferior-quality yarn and disposal of fabric. These actions decreased the purchase of raw materials by more than 17 tons. By improving packaging for yarns and reusing boxes, Southern Mills also was able to reduce the amount of purchased boxes by 12 tons. The combined efforts of reducing textile and packaging waste saved the company $13,000.
Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon begins to analyze the environmental impact of products at the beginning of the product cycle. Programs include energy-efficient manufacturing processes, developing energy-efficient products, using a greater amount of recycled materials, creating a copier toner cartridge collection and return program, and eliminating hazardous substances. At Canon U.S.A., the company extends the life of products through its remanufacturing and recycling programs. In 2004, more than 230,000 products were refurbished, remanufactured, resold, or reused internally.
Canon U.S.A., Inc. not only manufacturers cameras, optical products, and business machines, but also proves to be a company concerned with its waste streams and how they affect the environment. As one of the country’s most recognized camera manufacturers, Canon took the initiative to prevent 100,000 cameras from entering landfills by collecting used cameras for refurbishment, sale, or remanufacture in 2001. Canon’s Consumer Products Return Center recycled more than 1 million accessories, in turn saving the company more than $5 million dollars!
Canon also prevented packaging materials from becoming waste. In 2001, it reused incoming packaging for its outgoing shipments, and eliminated polystyrene use. If its vendors shipped products with polystyrene, Canon reused it and worked with the vendor to help them discontinue polystyrene use as well. The company continues to increase efforts to educate its employees about environmental responsibility. Canon has even incorporated postconsumer materials into new products. For instance, Canon reuses plastics from old machines and “sandwiches” them between two pieces of virgin plastics. Through this innovative process, Canon skips the entire pellet making process usually used to recycle plastics. In addition, the sandwich molding technology gives consumers an aesthetically pleasing product.
Employees also started designing products to make future recycling easier—providing quicker disassembly time, material labeling, and a decrease in the number of adhesion points and tools needed for disassembly. Educated employees have also influenced the company’s procurement. Canon purchases nearly 4,600 green-certified goods, from desks and chairs to office supplies and toilet paper.
Canon begins to analyze the environmental impact of products at the beginning of the product cycle. Programs include energy-efficient manufacturing processes, developing energy-efficient products, using a greater amount of recycled materials, creating a copier toner cartridge collection and return program, and eliminating hazardous substances. At Canon U.S.A., the company extends the life of products through its remanufacturing and recycling programs. In 2004, more than 230,000 products were refurbished, remanufactured, resold, or reused internally.
Lexmark International, Inc. – Lexington, Kentucky
Lexmark International knows that for recycling to truly work, there must be a market for the recycled-content products. Lexmark contributes to the market for recycled goods by purchasing recycled-content materials in new construction and renovation projects, including wall, flooring, ceiling tiles, restroom partitions, and carpet. In addition, Lexmark uses recycled-content paper products at its headquarters.
Creative Office Systems, Inc.
Creative Office Systems, Inc. (COS) does not just recycle as a side activity—its business is recycling! This California-based company developed a program focused on minimizing waste by following the priority of reduce/remanufacture/ reuse/recycle. Through this process, COS has managed to save more than 70,000 tons of waste from disposal in the last four years—equivalent to enough conserved energy to power 1,072 homes for an entire day.
For the fabric used to upholster its furniture, COS lives up to its name by using recycled soda bottles (PET) as 45 percent of the material content, a 9 percent increase in recycled material content from last year.
Within the lunchroom, the company has switched to reusable dishes and flatware. It minimizes shipping waste by reusing incoming packing and leftover textiles for outgoing packaging products. The company also strives to involve all workers in its environmental plans, which it effectively does through scheduling a speaker series.
Haworth, Inc.
A WasteWise Partner since 1994, Haworth, Inc., continues to exceed its WasteWise goals, demonstrating a commitment to reducing waste through intensive recycling programs and an efficient production and distribution process. A designer and manufacturer of innovative office furniture, Haworth developed a recycling center in 1992 and hasn’t looked back since—it even operates a 19,000 square foot material recovery center, where employees can bring recyclable materials from their homes. By 2000, Haworth had recycled more than 150 million pounds of materials. Since joining WasteWise, the company has significantly expanded the variety of materials it recycles and the number of work sites that participate. Haworth was among the first in its industry to use 100 percent recyclable and 80 percent post-consumer corrugated boxes for packaging, and it also initiated a pallet repair program to reduce wood disposal rates.
Herman Miller – Zeeland, Michigan
Herman Miller’s Design for the Environment team is responsible for developing environmentally sensitive design standards for new and existing products. Each new product is evaluated on material chemistry, disassembly, and recyclability. The team’s star product is the Mirra task chair, first introduced in 2003. Following the “cradle to cradle” design protocol, the Mirra chair is made of 42 percent recycled material, contains no polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and is up to 96 percent recyclable.
Herman Miller, Inc., a furniture manufacturer, once again held its growth in total waste in check while recording a year of expanded sales and production. Since 1994, the company’s waste reduction activities have resulted in a yearly reduction of approximately 20,000 tons of solid waste and an estimated savings of $120 million. The company’s efforts have also resulted in the recycling of an impressive 9,313 tons of steel, 1,729 tons of corrugated paper, 320 tons of mixed plastics, and 164 tons of mixed paper. In addition, the furniture manufacturer has begun to provide sawdust to local farms to produce high-quality compost. Herman Miller has spent $200 million on recycled-content products, including 100 per-cent recycled aluminum and 22 percent recycled-content steel. Manufacturing recycled-content products is also a priority for the company. As one example of its many products that are designed for the environment, Herman Miller’s chairs are manufactured to contain between 40 to 77 percent recycled content.
Herman Miller reduced the volume of packaging materials for finished goods by switching to returnable packaging and changing packaging design. This activity resulted in the reduction of 270 tons of corrugated containers and boxes and nearly 8 tons of polystyrene packaging filler, saving $422,000. Herman Miller also eliminated 40 tons of panel textiles and 27.5 tons of textiles for chairs through a lifecycle analysis process and saved $407,300.
Herman Miller, Inc. is coming closer to its goal of becoming a “zero landfill company.” Standard company policy dictates that Herman Miller products will contain a large amount of recycled content products and materials, which reduces the amount of material it landfills in its production processes by 86 percent. In 2001, Herman Miller recycled or prevented more than 3,000 tons of paper, 6,500 tons of steel, 2,900 tons of wood, 380 tons of mixed plastics, and 700 tons of textiles from entering landfills. When designing work environments, the corporation worked toward innovative environmental stewardship by reducing the amount of material landfilled during production by 20 percent. Herman Miller also recognized through internal waste audits and tracking that it generates a significant amount of paper as reports. In response, the company is switching to an electronic system to reduce the amount of paper reporting needed. So far, Herman Miller’s new system has eliminated about 40 percent of its paper from entering the waste stream.
A founding member of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in 1993, Herman Miller continues to lead the way with green building certifications. To date, the company has a total of nine LEED-certified buildings with a commitment to renovate all of its facilities—both leased and owned—to meet at least “Silver” certification. In 2005, two Herman Miller corporate buildings received “Gold” LEED certification. Through its use of natural light and 100 percent green power, Herman Miller’s Washington, D.C. National Design Building received “Gold” certification in the Commercial Interiors (CI) category and served as a pilot for the new LEED-CI category. The building earned credits through its use of recycled and renewable materials, including Herman Miller products. In addition to its own green building efforts, Herman Miller provides incentives for its customers to apply for LEED by designing and manufacturing office products and furniture, such as Aeron Chairs and Quadrant Storage Systems, which qualify for credits toward LEED certification.
Krueger International, Inc.
Krueger International, Inc. (KI) is a corporate citizen that is taking responsibility for its environmental footprint. In 2005, KI eliminated 215 tons of unnecessary packaging materials by reducing the amount of product packaging it purchased and manufactured. The company decreased customer packaging by more than 90 tons through its inventive redesign measures. KI limited the number of boxes for small parts, eliminated the corrugated base fittings for a number of products, and utilized reusable blanket wrap for large orders. In addition to its efforts to minimize packaging, KI strives to use as much recycled content in its materials as possible. In 2005, KI’s waste prevention program saved the company more than $700,000 in purchasing costs.
Steelcase Inc.
Steelcase Inc.’s product stewardship commitments are greatly contributing to the company’s goal of reducing its global footprint by 25 percent by 2012. Steelcase manufactures and sells environmentally friendly products containing fabrics made from 100 percent recycled beverage bottles and particleboard made with 100 percent recycled wood fiber. In 2005, Steelcase shared its product stewardship experience with other businesses by hosting the two-day Green by Design 2 symposium. Steelcase was also the first furniture company to be awarded the McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry’s new Cradle to Cradle™ Product Certification for its Think chair—recognized for its use of ecologically intelligent materials and cradle-to-cradle product design, which takes the entire life cycle of the product into consideration. Through its waste prevention activities, Steelcase saved more than $3 million during the year.
Steelcase practices “life-cycle thinking” in its product design and development, considering the potential impact of all stages in a product’s life. To help customers determine what to do with unused furniture in an environmentally friendly manner, Steelcase created the Environmental Partnership Program. Working on a case-by-case basis with a national network of dealers, recyclers, resellers, and nonprofit agencies, Steelcase offers options for customers to reuse, recycle, or refurbish their surplus Steelcase furniture.
Virco Mfg. Corporation – Conway, Arkansas
Although Virco Mfg. Corporation designs chairs, company employees don’t sit still when it comes to protecting the environment. Virco, which manufactures school and office furniture in Conway, Arkansas, joined WasteWise as a Charter Partner in 1994 and quickly achieved success. Since 1994, Virco has diverted more than 160 million pounds of waste and received six WasteWise awards in recognition of its achievements. Virco’s waste reduction efforts contribute to its success in the marketplace. By preventing manufacturing waste, the company purchases fewer raw materials and transfers the savings to consumers. Waste reduction efforts also save Virco thousands of dollars in disposal fees. While cost savings are important, Virco is committed to protecting the environment regardless of financial benefits.
Dedicated to improving the local community, the company launched a “Cash for Cardboard” program. Virco collects, bales, and sells corrugated cardboard from 27 local schools, ships it to a recycling company, and donates the proceeds back to the schools. In addition, Virco personnel deliver presentations on WasteWise at business meetings and other events, educating attendees about the greenhouse gas emissions generated by waste decomposing in landfills.
Virco Mfg. Corporation made great strides in waste reduction, recycling, and the purchase of recycled products in 2000. The furniture manufacturer reduced more than 6 tons of mixed office paper when the entire company converted to e-mail. Virco also continued its program to eliminate unnecessary packaging by transporting school furniture on reusable pallets instead of in corrugated containers. Approximately 10,000 pallets were repaired for reuse, while boards that could not be salvaged were ground up for use as mulch. In 2000, the company made a $350,000 profit for various recycled scrap plastics and purchased an impressive $30 million of recycled-content products.
“WasteWise’s commitment to measuring and recording recycling efforts and activities and GHG emission reductions has enabled our program to achieve higher goals with more efficiency and accuracy,” says Don Curran, Virco Mfg. Corporation’s Resource Recovery Recycling Manager. The company looks to waste prevention and recycling to reduce climate impacts. Through the 35 items Virco collects, it recycled 11,000 tons of materials and prevented the release of GHGs equal to the removal of 4,400 cars from the road for one year.
Virco positively impacts the environment in other ways as well. Take, for example, Virco’s newest facility surrounded by 15,000 reforested trees and 4 acres of wetlands! The company mows only 3 of the 35 total acres of landscape surrounding the building. All of these healthy systems remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, further reducing Virco’s climate footprint.
Virco Mfg. Corporation implemented forward- looking and innovative waste prevention, recycling, and buying-recycled efforts. In 1999, the company initiated a program to eventually eliminate the use of wooden pallets as part of the Transport Packaging Challenge. The company repaired more than 9.5 tons of pallets for reuse and mulched discarded boards. Virco also conserved 1,250 tons of plastic pellets and saved $300,000 by selling scrap hard plastic for use as sandblasting material. The company reused 9,000 tons of wood dust as a soil amendment on its new building site, saving $120,000.
“Virco’s commitment is a credit to our community as well as to our state and to industry in general,” said Debbie Plopper of the City of Conway’s recycling division. When the City of Conway, Arkansas, collected more cardboard than it could handle, Virco Mfg. Corporation volunteered to bale and sell all of it, giving the profits to the city. Virco built corrals from used pallets when the local PTA realized schools in the area needed collection bins for cardboard. The company now collects cardboard every week from all the schools in the area, sells it for recycling, and divides the proceeds among schools in need of funding. In 2001, Virco recycled 1,000 tons of corrugated cardboard.
This company is making environmental commitments within its walls as well. Through Virco’s Document Retention Policy, the company focused on reducing paper waste, collecting 34 tons of paper for recycling in 2001. Virco also purchases recycled material, spending an incredible $30 million on products with recycled content in 2001. The company eliminated a line of furniture that was producing nearly 48 tons of waste each year, decreased its use of inter-polystyrene packaging material, and even donated recycling equipment to the city to assist with the city-wide recycling initiative. Since 1991, Virco has recycled more than 75 million tons of materials, and keeps on counting!
Anheuser-Busch – St. Louis, Missouri
Let’s raise a toast to the men and women at Anheuser-Busch who are busy “Brewing a Better Environment,” as their environmental campaign is called. Since joining WasteWise as a Charter Partner in 1994, Anheuser-Busch has achieved a companywide 97 percent recycling rate and received six WasteWise awards for its waste reduction efforts.
As one of the world’s largest recyclers of aluminum beverage containers, the Anheuser-Busch Recycling Corporation recycled 804 million pounds of cans in 2004—more than 125 percent of the number of cans that the company’s breweries use to package their products. Anheuser-Busch is reducing its can lid diameter, which is expected to save 20 million pounds of aluminum when fully implemented by 2006. Anheuser-Busch has also looked beyond its successful packaging reduction efforts and found innovative uses for byproducts of the brewing process such as nutrient-rich sludge and beechwood chips.
Anheuser-Busch manages a broad range of operations in its breweries and theme parks. As a vertically integrated company, Anheuser-Busch strives to successfully integrate WasteWise into all of its operations. In 2003, the company effectively reduced waste by “lightweighting”—reducing the amount of aluminum used to produce its 24-ounce cans by 5.1 million pounds and saving 7.5 million pounds of paperboard by decreasing the thickness of its 12-pack bottle packaging. Additionally, Anheuser-Busch maintains an expansive organic waste reuse program, using 10.3 million pounds of beechwood chips—a byproduct of the brewing process—to produce compost and mulch. The company uses the byproducts in its many theme parks, such as Sea World and Busch Gardens.
Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. is a corporation with subsidiaries that include the world's largest brewing organization. Its brewing subsidiary, Anheuser-Busch Inc. reuses two major by-products of the brewing process, diatomaceous earth and spent beechwood chips--in cement and compost--respectively. In addition, the company recycles its spent grains by selling it to dairy farmers for animal feed.
The Anheuser-Busch Entertainment parks, such as SeaWorld and Busch Gardens also contribute to the company's waste reduction efforts by composting millions of pounds of yard and stable waste for reuse in landscaping projects. Additionally, Busch Agricultural Resources Inc., the company's agricultural subsidiary, reused more than 314,000 tons of organic material as a soil amendment.
Overall, Anheuser-Busch recycled more than 2 million tons of material in 2000, including corrugated packaging, paper, plastics, aluminum, glass, construction materials, and wood. A founding member of the Buy Recycled Business Alliance, the company is one of the largest purchasers of recycled-content products in the United States. Specifically, Anheuser-Busch purchased more than $2 billion worth of recycled materials in 2000, including packaging materials, copy paper, letterhead, business cards, and envelopes.
Even with 23,000 employees and multiple subsidiaries, Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. operates its WasteWise program as easily as enjoying a cold beverage on a hot summer day. Anheuser-Busch’s waste reduction program includes its breweries, theme parks, aluminum can manufacturer, agriculture operations, transportation outfits, recycling corporation, and other subsidiaries. Since 1994, when Anheuser-Busch joined as a Charter Partner, the company has been particularly successful with its composting activities. In 2001, Busch Agricultural Resources composted more than 325,000 tons of farm materials, and Busch Entertainment Theme Parks composted 4,200 tons of yard and animal stable waste for reuse in the parks for landscaping projects. Likewise, the breweries reused 5,450 tons of spent beechwood chips, a byproduct of the brewing process, as compost and mulch.
Other waste prevention activities at Anheuser-Busch include lightweighting cans to save 465 tons of aluminum, having phone books available on the company’s Intranet, saving approximately 4 tons of materials, and converting 300 hard-copy forms to an electronic format used by approximately 5,000 employees. Of course, Anheuser-Busch also achieved impressive results from its recycling collection efforts, totaling more than 2 million tons!
Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc. – Philadelphia, PA
Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc., a worldwide consumer packaging company, implemented a comprehensive waste prevention plan to reduce packaging waste in its 87 North American plants. A packaging return program instituted with suppliers conserved tons of corrugated boxes. The company improved upon its packaging reuse program in 2000 by making the switch to plastic pallets and separator sheets, eliminating the use of paper and wood products. Thousands of pounds of mixed paper were conserved when Crown Cork & Seal posted its environmental health and safety manuals on the company Intranet, eliminating the need for thousands of paper copy updates and related distribution costs. The company also increased the amount of postconsumer recycled PET plastic used in the manufacture of plastic bottles from 2 percent to 5 percent.
Eastman Kodak Company – Rochester, NY
Eastman Kodak seeks innovative ways to reduce waste, including remanufacturing its line of single-use FUNSAVER cameras. Through this program, Kodak diverts mixed plastics and metals from the waste stream by incorporating the parts into new cameras. Under this program, the current return rate is 74 percent. In 2000, Kodak reused 125 tons of off-spec polyethylene-coated photo-graphic paper as product tray liners and reused 850 tons of old furniture and electrical equipment. In addition, the company recycled more than 65,000 tons of materials, including ferrous metals, PET, high-grade paper, corrugated boxes, mixed plastics, polystyrene, wood, and mixed paper. Kodak also developed purchasing specifications to guide its efforts to incorporate quality recycled materials into its products. Overall, Kodak spent $24 million on recycled-content items.
Eastman Kodak Company conserved 2,300 tons of cameras by increasing returns of its FUNSAVER cameras, allowing more parts to be reused for manufacturing of new cameras. Kodak also reused 31,500 tons of asphalt from construction and demolition projects as a conventional aggregate in road and building construction, saving $2 million.
In 2001, Eastman Kodak Company found innovative ways to help amplify waste reduction efforts. Because Kodak continued to educate film processors on the recyclability of Kodak’s one-time-use cameras, customer returns of cameras increased allowing the company to remanufacture these additional returns. This activity prevented 1,800 tons of plastic and 1,400 tons of printed circuit boards from entering the waste stream. Altogether, the company reused and recycled more than 110 million cameras!
Kodak also found various ways to reuse internal wastes. In 2001, the company distributed more than 850 tons of furniture and electrical equipment for reuse. Through various onsite construction and demolition projects, it harvested and reused more than 11,000 tons of concrete, asphalt, and brick. It also continued its film container recycling program, which collected more than 370 million canisters in 2001 alone.
Kodak also continues to reinforce its commitment to buy products with recycled content. The company works with its suppliers to help them better understand Kodak’s standards to promote life-cycle thinking, waste minimizing, and using products with recycled content. In 2001, Kodak spent $24 million on supplies with recycled content.
Eastman Kodak sold 4,200 tons of coated paper liners for reuse as label backings, saving $250,000. Kodak also conserved 1,550 tons of plastic and printed circuit boards by increasing the return of its FUNSAVER cameras, allowing more parts to be reused for the manufacture of new cameras.
Louisiana-Pacific Corporation
Louisiana-Pacific Corporation (LP) makes a concerted effort to plant a green ethic into its business practices. In January 2001 alone, LP spent more than 1,000 cumulative hours on environmental training and education of its employees.
LP is at the forefront of a natural balance approach to the wood products industry, having recycled 2.8 million tons of wood by-products, scrap metal, and plastics in 2001. LP’s corporate-wide waste prevention and recycling efforts included using more than 1.5 million tons of waste for energy recovery, and a 37,000 ton reduction in total disposal. This effort represented a 43 percent reduction from waste disposed in 2000.
The company also developed a range of environmentally smart and energy-conscious products made from recycled content materials. The company implemented an environmental management system (EMS) company-wide. By the end of 2001, approximately 75 percent of LP’s manufacturing facilities had fully implemented an EMS; full implementation at all facilities will be complete by 2003. LP has received numerous awards, certifications, and environmental program recognition in addition to being a WasteWise Program Champion.
Motorola, Inc.
Motorola, a major electronics equipment manufacturer with facilities located in Illinois, Texas, Georgia, New York, Iowa, Florida, and Arizona, conserved more than 500 tons of waste through activities such as: switching to reusable plastic packaging, working with suppliers to take back plastic packaging materials for reuse, and reducing the disposable corrugated packaging used to ship products to customers. The company also conserved 72 tons of mixed plastics by collecting clean room booties, gloves, product packaging, and wafer boxes for reprocessing and reuse.
Panasonic
With public concern growing about the potential environmental impacts of discarded electronics, Panasonic is leading efforts to develop a national collection and recycling infrastructure for used electronic products. In 2002, the company sponsored programs that collected more than 1,500 tons of used electronic equipment at more than 100 locations. In addition, Panasonic partnered with an electronics recycler and one of its suppliers to manufacture televisions with cathode ray tubes that contain 10 percent postconsumer recycled content glass.
Going shopping for a new DVD player today? Bring in your old VCR and we’ll recycle it. Sounds crazy, but it worked for Panasonic and the Best Buy Electronics Recycling Program. Panasonic demonstrated its commitment to the environment by signing on as the first manufacturer to support this exciting venture. As Panasonic increased its efforts to develop its collection and recycling infrastructure and design products for efficient disassembly and recycling, it wanted to bring together consumers and retailers to reduce the amount of electronic waste entering local landfills.
The Best Buy Program was the first of its type—a retailer initiating a store-based program where customers drop off old or unwanted equipment. Panasonic’s support funded advertising and promotional materials for the event. With 11 two-day events occurring at various locations, the program succeeded in piling up more than 125 tons of electronic equipment for recycling.
Panasonic not only focuses on what to do once it produces electronic waste, but also how to prevent the equipment from becoming waste. In 2001, Panasonic extended its Design for the Environment program by expanding several different areas of work: implementing a product assessment process based on life-cycle assessment, increasing energy efficiency, and increasing television recyclability. Outcomes from this assessment include redesigning television sets for easier disassembly and standardizing plastic resins to make them easier to identify and recycle.
PolyOne—Engineered Films Group
PolyOne Engineered Films Group is part of PolyOne Corporation, a world-wide polymer services company with locations in Lebanon, Pennsylvania; Winchester, Virginia; and Yerington, Nevada, The Group strives to reduce the amount of solid waste it landfills by 10 percent every year. Its Winchester plant alone diverted more than 925 tons of materials from the waste stream in 2000. After achieving ISO 14001 certification in 2000, PolyOne’s Winchester plant trained employees at all levels on new environmental management procedures, tracked and reported monthly waste reduction figures to all employees, and created production floor teams to resolve any excess waste problems. As one example of its solid waste reduction pro-gram, the Winchester plant reuses large plastic bags, used to cover unfinished products during final stages of production, until they are dirty or torn. When no longer usable, the bags are collected and recycled into plastic lumber.
Schlegel Systems – Rochester, NY
Schlegel Systems, a manufacturer of foam weather stripping, EMI shielding devices, and plastic trim for automobiles, worked with suppliers to reuse incoming pallets for outgoing shipments, conserving more than 12.5 tons of wood pallets and $6,500. The company also conserved more than 20 tons of fiber board, steel, plastic, and boxboard by switching from single-use cores and spools to reusable materials, saving more than $13,000.
By reusing plastic pallets, reels, and containers for interdepartmental use, Schlegel eliminated 16 tons of waste and saved $15,000. Schlegel also eliminated paper container waste by switching to plastic containers for storing tools and buckets for cleaning, saving $1,500 and removing 1 ton from the waste stream.
United Technologies Carrier Corporation – Indianapolis, IN
In 2000, United Technologies Carrier continued its ambitious waste prevention and recycling programs. The HVAC manufacturer has significantly reduced cardboard and wood pallet usage by converting the shipping containers of more than half of its inbound bulk materials to returnable containers. A recent vendor agreement resulted in the reduction of more than 33 tons of pallet waste per year. In addition, United Technologies Carrier diverted previously landfilled concrete waste from the waste stream by hauling it to local facilities where it was ground for reuse. This change eliminated 512 tons of landfilling per year, and the fees are also less than typical landfill tipping fees.