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1995 Award Winners
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Type of
Business: |
Printer |
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Reductions:
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60% of Volatile Organic Compounds |
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Savings:
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Estimated at several thousand dollars yearly in reduced hazardous waste storage and disposal costs, and administrative costs. |
Deluxe Corporation, Shoreview, one of the nation’s largest printers with more than 3,000 employees in its Minnesota printing facilities, noted growing concern from consumers, shareholders employees and regulators about oil-based inks and solvents. These petroleum-based materials create volatile organic compounds that pollute the air inside and outside, and after use become hazardous waste requiring costly storage and disposal. Deluxe set out to solve this serious environmental problem that faces all printers.
In 1993, Deluxe introduced a new printing system it developed: a water-washable lithographic ink and solvent-free press wash system called Printwise. By converting to Printwise, Deluxe has reduced its VOC emissions by more than 60 percent, or more than 44,000 pounds.
Printwise is considered a breakthrough in the printing industry. It performs as conventional petroleum-based ink during printing, but cleans with a water-based solution and is made from vegetable oil, a renewable resource. Conversion required little employee training because it uses existing printing technology. The success of Printwise has prompted Deluxe to become an ink manufacturer and market Printwise to other printers.
Besides the drop in VOC emissions, Deluxe’s use of Printwise has significantly reduced its hazardous waste, reduced employee exposure to toxic chemicals, and eliminated the need for oil-based solvents to clean the presses. Deluxe has saved thousands of dollars in hazardous waste storage and disposal costs and reduced the need to train employees to handle hazardous waste.
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Type of
Business: |
Specialty Chemicals Manufacturer |
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Reductions:
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650,000 pounds per year of perchloroethylene |
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Savings:
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$30,000 per year on waste disposal: $1 million in productivity increases annually |
Elf Atochem was generating more than 650,000 pounds of hazardous waste from its use of perchloroethylene (perc) to make epoxidized oil products at its Blooming Prairie chemical plant. The plant was a large-quantity hazardous waste generator.
In keeping with its corporate environmental policy, Elf decided to eliminate perc. The company developed new processes and equipment to create epoxidized oils without using perc—a departure from the usual solvent-based chemistry in this field and possibly unique to this niche industry.
Without perc, Elf saved $30,000 per year in hazardous waste disposal costs. And, because perc took up space in the equipment, eliminating it nearly doubled the plant’s production capacity. This increase in productivity resulted in additional sales of more than $1 million annually.
The environmental benefits are also significant for the 55-employee company and its southeastern Minnesota community. Elf reduced its hazardous waste by 99.5 percent. Perc emissions from off-site waste incineration have been eliminated. Air emissions of perc from the plant, formerly about 4,000 pounds per year, have ceased, and ground water contamination, which happened in the past can no longer occur.
The company foresees future savings from processing waste products formerly classified as hazardous because of perc contamination. Technologies are now available to recycle about 90 percent of the plant’s waste. A recycling project now under study could save an additional $1 million to $2 million per year.
“It has been the attitude of this plant’s management to make the necessary changes at a very rapid pace,” said company officials. “The internal corporate program has as its ultimate goal to completely eliminate all waste at the source.”
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Type of
Business: |
Fabricated Concrete Structure Manufacturer |
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Reductions:
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39.7 million gallons of water: 28,000 tons of concrete |
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Savings:
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$259,484 |
Fabcon uses large volumes of water to make concrete structures. When an increase in business meant increasing water usage from 42,500 gallons to 65,952 gallons daily. Fabcon decided to investigate water reclamation technologies.
The company, located in Savage, now uses a system that filters solids out of the water and treats it with sulfuric acid to neutralize the basic water. The water is then pumped back into the plant, ready to be reused. This system not only reuses 38 million gallons of water each year, but it also allows Fabcon to save 1.7 million gallons more water with a heat exchanger that reduces the coolant water needed for hydraulics.
The solids filtered from the water are pressed into cakes and hauled to a recycler with Fabcon’s crushed concrete. The recycled concrete is used as a road and parking lot base material. The company recycles a total of 28,000 tons a year of concrete, 8,000 tons of it recovered from the wastewater.
By reclaiming water, Fabcon not only saves $9,000 per month on water, plus a one-time service charge of $68,400 if it had increased its water usage. Reusing water also reduces pollutants needing treatment at the sewage treatment plant and lessens the problems caused by huge amounts of water going through the sewer system. Just as important, Fabcon’s system conserves ground water, easing the demand on Savage’s water utility, which provides water for a rapidly growing community.
“We are very excited to share our information and technology with our industry and to assist them in any way we can,” said officials. “Fabcon competes with many firms in similar businesses, but believes that, since we share the same environment, we need to be partners.”
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Type of
Business: |
Manufacturer of Pontoon Boats |
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Reductions:
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100% Wood and associated
waste from manufacture of furniture and consoles 75% of styrene emissions 100% of 1,1,1-Trichloroethane Over 3 tons of resin and fiberglass material. |
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Savings:
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$25,000 annually in disposal and labor costs |
Recreational pontoon boats typically have wooden seat bases, steering consoles and battery compartments. Premier Marine, Inc., of Wyoming, in collaboration with Recycled Plastics, Inc. (RPI), of Garfield, developed a recycled plastic material to replace wood in its boats.
Premier found that the recycled plastic makes a better boat because it eliminates water retention, mold and rotting. By using 150 tons of recycled high-density polyethylene per year in place of wood, the company also created an end-use for an otherwise difficult-to-market waste, saved 111,000 square feet of virgin resources, and also reduced its own waste.
The symbiotic relationship between Premier and RPI demonstrates a true business partnership. Premier worked closely with RPI in developing the product and help it purchase start-up equipment. RPI provides Premier with 111,000 square feet of material per year. Premier’s manufacturing waste is returned to RPI for reprocessing.
Other initiatives taken by Premier include:
Premier Marine is one of the few pontoon manufactures using recycled plastic in place of wood for furniture and consoles. It is one of the first in the industry to switch to a water-based solvent glue, and the only one using the water-based glaze.
“Eventually, the use of recycled plastics will become common in the pontoon industry because of the example set by Premier. Other manufacturers of products that have used wood bases in the past will follow this example,” said Bob Menne, president.
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Type of
Business: |
Manufacturer of Mainframe Computers |
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Reductions:
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80% Reduction in disposable packaging |
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Savings:
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$868,000 Annually |
In the late 1980s, Unisys Midwest Operations in Roseville began working with the local suppliers to reduce solid waste at the source. Large-scale computer manufacturing operations traditionally involve a significant amount of throw-away packaging such as foam, plastic wrap, paper and cardboard to protect parts from damage. As work progressed, Unisys established a “no waste paradigm” and continued partnering with its supplier base to eliminate and consolidate packaging.
Unisys had developed an innovative approach that uses the sheet metal computer frame as a package for most smaller parts. A returnable tent-like fabric cover protects the sheet metal frame from handling and transportation damage. Power supplies, backpanels, voltage bus bars and other parts once ordered from a variety of suppliers and packaged individually are now purchased in kits from selected suppliers chosen as partners in this endeavor.
Packaging that has not been eliminated is designed for reuse and returned to suppliers. Printed circuit assemblies manufactured internally are packaged as kits in reusable static-free containers. Printed circuit assemblies shipped to other Unisys facilities also use durable containers.
At least 80 percent of the solid waste normally generated through the shipping, handling and processing of parts has been eliminated. This source reduction is a permanent cycle yielding ongoing economic benefits. Other advantages include reduction in inventory, a 30-percent reduction in warehouse space and maintenance of zero-defect quality.
“Unisys has taken a proactive approach that weaves responsible environmental management into the fabric of how we do business, use resources, and develop products and solutions. We are keenly aware of the relationships between our operations and the environment,” said James A. Unruh, Unisys Chairman and CEO.
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Type of
Business: |
Metal Finisher |
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Reductions:
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100% of chlorinated
solvents and cyanide solutions 85% of water use 79% of volatile organic compounds. |
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Savings:
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$266,000 Annually |
The owners of Wolkerstorfer Co., Inc., a 100-year-old metal finishing business with 42 employees in Northeast Minneapolis, realized in early 1990 that protecting the environment both within the plant and outdoors would be key to the company’s strategic plan for the next century.
The company eliminates trichloroethylene and methylene chloride for cleaning and stripping processes and replaced them with water-based systems and equipment. Employees were retrained and strict quality standards maintained.
These changes made in accordance with the company’s environmental commitment, eliminated 53.4 tons per year of chlorinated solvents, resulting in a 79-percent reduction in volatile organic compounds entering the atmosphere. Equally important, elimination of these compounds created a safer and more pleasant working environment for employees.
Wolkerstorfer also eliminated cyanide processes used in plating processes, preventing 60,480 gallons of hazardous waste per year and saving $166,000 in treatment and disposal costs. The family-owned company made these difficult decisions even though cyanide-related processes were involved in 40 percent of annual sales.
Eliminating cyanide and other process changes accomplished an 85-percent overall reduction in water use, from 211,900 to 31,800 gallons per day, which saved $100,000 annually.
Current projects include solvent recycling, containment system upgrades, installation of an automated powder coating line and a state-of-the-art water-based paint system that is 97-percent solvent-free.
“The Wolkerstorfer Company remains committed to its employees, the community and the environment,” said Wolkerstorfer officials.
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Type of
Business: |
Public Utility Assistance Provider |
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Project |
Assisting business and the public to prevent pollution. |
Wastewater treatment plants play an increasingly important role in preventing pollution. By promoting and practicing pollution prevention, they maximize treatment capacity, reduce difficult-to-treat influents in wastewater, meet stringent federal and state wastewater discharge limits, and increase overall efficiency.
Metropolitan Council Wastewater Services (MCWS), St. Paul, the public agency responsible for treating wastewater in the Metropolitan Area is a leader among sewage treatment operations in actively incorporating pollution prevention into its activities. The agency started a formal pollution prevention program in 1991 with a grant form the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and has more than doubled this investment with its own budget commitment.
The MCWS has incorporated pollution prevention into its operations and helped industry and the public in the following ways:
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