Universal Fasteners + P2 = $avings

You see their products everyday: buttons, snaps, rivets, and burrs on those famous Levi Strauss and Lee jeans, as well as other apparel. What you don't see much of these days is their waste. Universal Fasteners Inc. (UFI) of  Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, is a textbook example of how pollution prevention helps a major manufacturer save money and landfill space.

Years ago, UFI began recycling office paper, computer paper, and aluminum cans. Over the years, UFI has profited by increasing its waste stream recycling, according to Todd Baldwin, UFI environmental engineer. Several types of scrap metal generated by the processes in the facility returns an average of $1.5 million annually. However, Baldwin does not see this figure increasing, since UFI is at or near production capacity.

The Pallet Problem

Like so many manufacturers, UFI receives more pallets than they can use. Some are reused, but the majority are unsuitable for shipping finished UFI products. Pallet recyclers abound, but shipping costs can make pallet recycling prohibitive. This was UFI's problem, and most of their pallets wound up in the local landfill.

In 1994, a high school senior from Frankfort approached Todd about taking the pallets. Today his company reconditions and resells some of UFI's pallets, and grinds the rest for mulch. Weekly pickups minimize storage problems.

Wet scrubbers

According to Baldwin, the processes used at UFI are identical to that of an automobile manufacturer, only on a much smaller scale. The Lawrenceburg facility has four electroplating lines: copper, nickel, zinc, and decorative (brass, tin, antique and black nickel). Each line has a dedicated venturi scrubber or wet scrubber, each with about 95% recovery efficiency.

Each line also contains a number of drag-out tanks, meaning more metal stays in the plating process and less metal has to be treated on-site through the wastewater treatment system. To recover nickel from the process, the nickel plating line utilizes a reverse osmosis unit. A copper recovery unit is employed on the copper plating line to recover copper which has a purity rate greater than 99 percent. The recovered copper can be reused in the copper anode plating bath.

No More Sludge Drudge

Previously, the burnishing sludge - a non-hazardous special waste - was combined with sludge from the electroplating process. Because electroplating sludge is a listed hazardous waste, this made all the sludge hazardous. The facility shipped a 20 cubic yard roll-off off-site about every two weeks. The material was wet and at about the cost of $3,800 per load, sludge disposal cost kept increasing.

In 1992, UFI purchased and installed a sludge dryer. By removing water from the generated sludge, the results were an impressive $55,000 annual savings at the Lawrenceburg facility alone.

Even though sludge drying was cost effective, the amount of hazardous waste generated by the facility was still the same. Baldwin and his colleagues estimated that 80 percent of the mixed sludge was non-hazardous and decided to separate the waste streams in 1995. They discovered that 90 percent or more of the separated sludge is non-hazardous. This saved UFI an additional $45,000 annually in disposal costs. The total savings from drying and separating the sludge waste was approximately $100,000 per year.

Due to the cost of hazardous waste disposal, the sludge dryer is currently used in the plating sludge process, and the burnishing sludge remains wet. As an added step in 1997, UFI was able to successfully recycle the plating sludge through ENCYCLE/TEXAS, INC. UFI's plating sludge contains 14-16 percent copper. The sludge is mixed with comparable waste streams and sold to a copper smelter. The material leftover from this process is a fly-ash material which enables UFI to reduce its liability by eliminating the disposal of the sludge to a hazardous waste landfill.

Paint, Lacquer Waste

UFI employs a 30-gallon still for on-site recovery of used solvent. This recovered solvent is used to clean out the paint guns. Paint and lacquer waste decreased from 12 drums per month to six drums, with an annual cost savings of about $30,000. Leftover still bottoms from the paint waste and the added lacquer waste is recycled by blending it as a primary fuel for a cement kiln. Paint and lacquer waste, with its high BTU value, is a prized fuel for kilns.

Old Friends

UFI and the Kentucky Pollution Prevention Center have had a long relationship over the years. Baldwin says that assessments by KPPC revealed P2 opportunities they had already discussed, but proved valuable in convincing management to go along. "We were able to say, look, here's this outside group that has no ulterior motive, and these are their recommendations." Baldwin said. As a result of their success with P2 practices, UFI continues looking for ways to cut waste and boost their bottom line.