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Success Stories - Utilities
Success Stories
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Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc.
As the provider of electricity, natural gas, and steam for New York City (and most parts of Westchester County, New York), Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. (Con Ed) proved that it doesn’t just provide energy to its customers, but it also cares about the footprint that it leaves on the environment. Striving to increase reuse of equipment and furniture in 2001, the company succeeded in reusing 687 pieces of office furniture and 200 workstations. This actually saved the company nearly $550,000 and also prevented 171 tons of office furniture from entering the waste stream. Additionally, the company worked with its local vendor to remanufacture more than 9 tons of toner cartridges!
Con Ed understands that employees play a key role in successfully implementing waste reduction activities. To convey this message, the utility company produced a video highlighting waste reduction and the importance of segregating wastes as well as describing activities in the company newsletter. These actions demonstrate success, and as the company bought more than $1.2 million worth of supplies containing recycled content, including office paper, file folders, traffic cones, janitorial supplies, and barricades, Con Ed closed the recycling loop. Many employees continue to learn about buying recycled products from active participation in monthly meetings of the Buy Recycled Alliance in New York.
Constellation Energy/BGE – Baltimore, MD
Constellation Energy, together with its subsidiary BGE, is one of the nation’s largest wholesale power companies and America’s oldest energy utility. It lights up the waste reduction scene with its reuse and recycling programs. The company has won seven WasteWise awards since joining as a Charter Partner in 1994. Although Constellation faces many waste reduction challenges from materials unique to the energy industry (such as coal ash), the company has implemented many reuse and recycling solutions—helping it save more than $30 million in new purchases and disposal costs. In 1998, Constellation installed a separator at its Brandon Shores, Maryland, power plant to separate carbon from coal ash, making it usable in specialty concrete. Along with other coal ash applications like flowable fill and blasting grit, this project allowed Constellation to recycle approximately 450,000 tons of coal ash, or greater than half of all ash the company produced in 2005. During the last 10 years, Constellation has increased its ash recycling approximately 2.2 million tons of various materials. BGE previously had to dispose of electronic reading transmitters (ERTs)—used in gas meters—as hazardous waste. In 2005, the company found a remanufacturer for the ERTs, resulting in potential savings of more than $1 million throughout the lifespan of all ERTs now in service.
Every year BGE recycles thousands of tons of materials like metals, paper, and wood and returns remanufactured tools, meters, and electrical equipment from its equipment shops to useful service.
In 2004, Constellation Energy’s Generation Group maintained an ash reuse program at its Brandon Shores coal-fired power plant in Baltimore, Md. Through a partnership with Separation Technologies, LLC, a separator removes carbon from the fly ash to make it usable in concrete. The partnership has been so successful that, in 2004, storage space was increased by 35,000 tons and a second separator was added—allowing Separation Technologies to process and use most of the fly ash produced by the plant, some 140,000 tons in 2004.
Constellation Energy Group sought out innovative and cost-effective new programs to prevent waste, increase recycling rates, and increase spending on recycled-content products in 2000. The utility donated 26.9 tons of computers and electronic equipment for reuse through its computer donation program. Hard copies of numerous documents, including the employee handbook and an environmental standards publication, were eliminated and made available electronically on the corporate intranet. In 2000, 96 wood utility poles were refurbished, inspected, and returned to stock for reuse, saving the company $28,800. The company also promoted waste prevention both to its employees and to other businesses through its Businesses for the Bay mentoring program, participation in various events, and featured articles in the company’s Business Express newsletter and internal magazine Quest. Constellation Energy Group, which employs 6,500 people, also recycled an impressive 412 tons of yard trimmings, 149 tons of non-ferrous metals, 47 tons of mixed paper, 42 tons of mixed plastics, and nearly 17 tons of corrugated boxes. In addition, the company recycled the oil from its vehicle oil filters and 100 percent of the aerosol cans it collected. The utility also spent a total of $721,369 on recycled-content products, including 1,043 retread tires, plastic piping, carpeting, remanufactured furniture, paper wipes, and bill envelopes.
In addition to winning the 2002 Climate Change WasteWise Partner of the Year award, Constellation Energy Group’s (CEG’s) waste reduction program saved the company $1.3 million in 2001. Through reusing, reducing, and recycling, CEG avoided disposal costs of more than $500,000 and avoided purchasing costs of $800,000.
One example of this successful waste reduction is the group’s ongoing electronics program.
In 2001, Constellation collected and donated 31 tons of computers and recycled an additional 1,000 tons of metal from electronics.
CEG also advanced its paper reduction and recycling programs. The company converted many publications to electronic formats and made them available on the company’s Intranet in 2001, including the employee handbook, the daily cafeteria menu, and corporate policies. CEG also collected 280 tons of paper for recycling and purchased many paper items containing recycled material.
DTE Energy – Detroit, MI
Stemming from Detroit’s first light bulb manufacturer and electric utility, DTE Energy has innovated new ideas for nearly 120 years, and the company’s environmental practices are no exception. This Michigan-based energy provider demonstrated its environmental commitment in 1994 by becoming a Charter Partner of the WasteWise program, making annual advances in waste prevention and recycling. In 2001, the company formalized its longstanding waste minimization/pollution prevention program by forming a committee to quantify environmental expectations and qualifications for contractors and suppliers, assigning a pollution prevention representative to each plant, and completing a pollution prevention survey for every coal-fired generating plant.
The company expanded its use of electronic media as a replacement for paper in 2001. Two electronic newsletters replaced paper copies, along with the 10-page annual internal survey, phone directory, and company policies, which are no longer available in paper form. DTE Energy devoted a chapter of the company’s contract administrator training manual to pollution prevention, waste reduction, and environmental management.
DTE Energy’s computer recovery program completed another successful year—generating zero waste. The company donated 227 computers, recycled more than 8,000 CPUs, monitors, keyboards, and circuit boards, and resold $36,000 worth of parts. It also generated $31,000 from used furniture sales and nearly $7,000 from the sale of other items. The company reached these increased level of sales through a new partnership with Goodwill Industries and the development of an online sales Web site.
DTE Energy purchased large amounts of paper towels and toilet tissue containing postconsumer recycled content, while collecting huge quantities of various materials for recycling. By recycling metal within used computers alone, the company avoided the production of GHGs equivalent to taking nearly 2,000 cars off the road this past year! It recycled an additional 500 tons of paper products, more than 221 tons of wood, and large amounts of ash, glass, and plastic.
Florida Power & Light
Florida Power & Light prevented the disposal of approximately 11,700 utility poles through donation and sale. Pole line hardware and other parts were reclaimed, refurbished, and returned for reuse, saving the utility approximately $1.5 million, based on estimated market value. Florida Power & Light also saved $21,000 by reusing wood reels. The wire and cable on the wood reels is recycled, and then the reels are salvaged for reuse. Wood reels that are not suitable for reuse are ground up and recycled for mulch. Recycled-content office supplies and promotional items were also purchased in 2000. In addition, the utility promotes WasteWise and educates its 10,000 employees on the benefits of waste reduction and recycling through presentations, special events, publications, and the Internet.
Florida Power and Light Company (FPL) reuses materials at every turn and saves money doing it! For example, by refurbishing its system equipment, this Florida utility salvaged 758 tons and $1.7 million worth of material in 2001, avoiding an additional $21,000 in tipping fees and multiple trips to the dump. This high salvage rate represents a 19 percent increase from the previous year. FPL avoided another $6,000 dollars in tipping fees by selling and donating wooden utility poles—nearly 153 tons worth! The company also continues to reuse wooden reels, approximately 3,600 in 2001. This reuse avoided $20,000 in tipping fees. FPL established an innovative buy-back program in 2000, to encourage participating vendors to consider the entire lifespan of their products. FPL’s wire and cable vendor, for example, bought back nearly $3 million dollars worth of processed aluminum and copper from the utility in 2001. Dianne Reale, FPL’s corporate recycling coordinator, explained, “Buy-back agreements are changing the way industries do business. . .These agreements save money, reduce packaging, and increase efficiency.” In addition to recycling an incredible 23,030 tons of materials generated by FPL’s facilities, the company also donated several tons of non-recyclable materials to schools for creative learning experiences for children and adults.
Great River Energy
Great River Energy understands the value of coal combustion byproducts, such as fly ash and bottom ash. Not only does Great River Energy use or sell much of its ash material rather than disposing of it, but it also works to expand the market for fly ash and create markets for bottom ash. In 2005, the company partnered with Headwaters, Inc. to create a $27 million infrastructure, increasing the sale and use of fly ash, which is used in concrete production and for soil stabilization. In 2005, Great River Energy sold more than 400,000 tons of fly ash for these purposes.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)
A Charter Partner of WasteWise, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) began a food waste composting program for employees at its corporate headquarters general office complex in 2005. In addition, PG&E closes the loop with the plant trimmings from its general office complex landscaping—composting the material and then putting that same compost back into other onsite landscaping activities. At PG&E’s Pacific Energy Center, located a few blocks away, food waste is collected and used as fertilizer for local farms and gardens. In addition to composting, PG&E uses biodegradable products including cups, plates, coffee stirrers, and toothpicks to serve refreshments for events and meetings at the center.
Pepco
Moving anytime soon? Need an idea of how to keep relocation costs down? Instead of using those cardboard boxes to relocate, use something reusable. That is what Pepco did when it relocated to its new headquarters in Washington, DC. Using 4,700 reusable plastic totes saved more than $8,000 in moving costs! In 2001, Pepco redesigned its cable splicing kits, preventing one ton of wire waste each year. Pepco also estimated a savings of $1.5 million in disposal fees from its recycling program, generating revenues of $575,000 from the sale of these recyclables. Pepco closes the loop by purchasing recycled content-products, including paper, office products, remanufactured parts, antifreeze, and tires.
Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) – New Jersey
After joining WasteWise as a Charter Partner, PSEG, a combined electric, gas, and energy services holdings company located in New Jersey, worked to achieve electrifying results by incorporating waste reduction into its company culture and business practices. As one of the nation's major electric power and natural gas providers, PSEG excels in waste reduction and promoting the climate benefits of these activities. In 1993, PSEG instituted an innovative materials management process for handling waste by forming the Resource Recovery Group. The group aimed to incorporate waste prevention into every aspect of energy production and achieved this goal through resource management—a strategic alternative to traditional disposal contracts. PSEG offered its waste management suppliers financial incentives to identify waste reduction opportunities. In just 18 months, the company implemented new materials management practices and saved nearly $2 million in waste management costs and reduced tons of waste. Since 1995, PSEG's recycling rates have consistently exceeded 90 percent. The utility's new goal is to maintain or exceed a 94 percent recycling rate for all waste material generated. Impressively, PSEG recycled more than 96 percent of its municipal solid waste in 2002!
PSEG provides electricity and gas to more than 3.5 million New Jersey customers. PSEG continued its commitment to waste reduction, recycling, and buying and manufacturing recycled products in 2000 through numerous innovative programs and initiatives. The energy company supported local charitable organizations, schools, and community groups by donating nearly 13 tons of refurbished computers. The donation program included 200 computer systems sent to Pedals for Progress, a nonprofit corporation focusing on needs in developing Latin American countries. The company also reused 81.2 tons of furniture, saving $57,530, and refurbished 1,054 pounds of street lighting. PSEG also saved $15,444 by purchasing retread tires in 2000. Through its Buy Recycled Policy, the company purchased more than $2.7 million worth of recycled-content products—up 25 percent from 1999.
PSEG supported local charitable organizations, schools, and community groups by donating nearly 13 tons of refurbished computers. The donation program included 200 computer systems sent to Pedals for Progress, a nonprofit corporation focusing on needs in developing Latin American countries. PSEG also sold more than 6 tons of computers and electronics equipment for reuse at a total savings of $135,805. In all, PSEG’s Computer Recovery and Remanufacturing Program supported the recovery of more than 19 tons of electronics equipment, including CPUs, monitors, key-boards, and peripherals. The company also recycled an additional 29 tons of computer equipment in 2000.
Recognizing the rise in cellular phone use, PSEG recently hosted a collection drive throughout the company to collect used cell phones. PSEG collected more than 700 phones, plus their chargers and extra batteries, and then donated the phones to the local sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s office distributed the reprogrammed phones to senior citizens in the area for emergency use. This activity helped ensure the security of the senior citizens and also prevented 550 pounds of electronics from entering a landfill.
PSEG also sees the value in reusing and recycling other electronic equipment, such as computers. The company collected more than 66 tons of computer equipment in 2001, including CPUs, monitors, keyboards, and peripherals from offices throughout the company. PSEG sorted the equipment into categories—either recoverable or ready to be demanufactured/recycled. The company assigned nearly 28 tons of equipment to the recovery program and found a number of uses for the equipment. After refurbishment, PSEG reused equipment internally in stand-alone applications; sold to employees or the general public; or donated to local charitable organizations, schools, churches, government, and community groups. The company then recycled the remaining 39 tons.
PSEG developed its Resource Recovery Process as a means to meet its aggressive waste prevention and recycling goals with the underlying theme of reducing the company’s impact on climate change. The program operates on two levels: reuse, recovery, and recycling; and waste accounting and resource management. PSEG views all waste as a resource for potential reuse, remanufacture, or recycling and documents the cost of waste to identify missed opportunities, promote further reductions, and improve procurement practices. This focus enables PSEG to more efficiently generate and distribute electric power and reduce its impact on the environment. The company educates its employees on these issues and how they help reduce GHG emissions. In turn, PSEG receives support in recycling scrap metal, cardboard, and paper; reusing or donating computers and furniture; reusing and recycling street lights; as well as buying vehicle tires, office products, and furniture made with recycled materials.
PSEG found that its waste prevention and recycling activities not only benefit the environment, but also benefit the company, employees, and the local community. By working with its suppliers and employees, PSEG reached a municipal solid waste recycling rate of more than 92 percent, recycling 96,000 tons of waste in 2001. This figure includes more than 12,000 tons of wood (e.g., tree limbs) cut to prevent them from obstructing power lines and rights-of-way. After cutting down these safety hazards, employees recycle or reuse the wood in agricultural and landscaping applications.
In 2001, PSEG also conducted a pilot project to collect and recycle ink-jet cartridges used in the office. The pilot was so successful, PSEG is now planning companywide implementation. PSEG also recycles holiday cards. More than 300 pounds of cards were sent to St. Judes Ranch for Children where the backs of the old cards were removed so the fronts could be reused.
PSEG also supports the local community by providing grants to environmental educators and by participating in environmental fairs throughout New Jersey and even lectures at schools and other organizations.
Among its waste prevention achievements, PSEG reduced paper waste by nearly 100 tons and saved more than $320,000 through the use of electronic communications. PSE&G also donated, sold, and redeployed 48 tons of computer equipment, saving almost $350,000.
Southern California Edison (SCE) - CA
Southern California Edison, a utility company, saved 125 tons of high-grade paper by putting employee directories and maps on the company’s intranet, saving $50,000. The utility also worked with vendors to have goods delivered on reusable pallets instead of cardboard boxes, saving 5 tons of corrugated boxes. Incoming boxes were used for outgoing shipments, saving 6 additional tons of corrugated. The company’s reusable mug program also conserved 75 tons of paper cups. In addition, they recycled 8,801 tons of wood, more than 244 other non-ferrous metals, and more than 169 tons of other ferrous metals. The company spent $200,000 on recycled-content products in 2000 as well.
SCE is a large investor-owned electric utility company that not only thinks about how its power generation affects the environment, but also how to help the environment by reducing waste. During the 2001 California energy crisis, SCE provided an opportunity for its customers to make some money, lower their electric bills, and reduce the number of appliances entering landfills by offering free pickup of unneeded refrigerators and freezers for recycling. This great offer came at a perfect time for consumers to consider purchasing more energy efficient appliances that save cash and the environment! SCE’s recycling program not only picks up the refrigerators, but it also removes CFC-11 and other hazardous materials for proper disposal. The organization reinforced the program by presenting participants with either a $35 check or a pack of energy-efficient light bulbs.