By Vicki Matranga, Design Programs Coordinator
Profit from Sustainability? A Greener Solution Can Offer Some Answers
Sustainability is vital to a company’s performance strategy and brand image. At the 2012 International Home + Housewares Show, we learned of many directions and issues in sustainability. We heard from industry insiders at the Innovation Theater and the Going Green display about environmentally sustainable materials, reduced use of natural resources in production, more efficient packaging and legal issues in advertising.
This summer, a series of blog posts update what was presented at the Show as we continue the conversation with some of the industry leaders who appeared there. IHA introduces its members to service providers who can help them make more sustainable decisions in their supply chains and production as well as benchmark best practices.
We’re hearing that an increasing number of U.S. manufacturers are establishing their production here to offer their customers products that are Made in America. With this “reshoring,” companies might be searching for local sources of materials and expertise in reevaluating their processes. A Greener Solution, based in Illinois and with facilities in eight other states, creates and manages programs that reduce waste, minimize costs and maximize value, helping partners make their business practices greener and bottom lines healthier.
Resourceful Recycling
Robert Render, CEO and Founder of A Greener Solution, has appeared as an Expert in the Going Green display several times and contributed materials to add color to the product exhibit. A recycling entrepreneur, (he grew up sorting metal in his family’s scrap yard and joined the business after finishing college) he has more than 35 years of experience in processing metals, plastics and other by-products. Six years ago, Render was president of Maine Plastics, a large post-industrial plastics recycling company with 11 plants in the United States, when he launched A Greener Solution with partners, David Kaplan (now CEO of Maine Plastics) and chemist Neal Gutkin, in 2006. The new company, frequently collaborating with Maine Plastics, partners with clients to help them reduce landfill use, increase recycling, and incorporate recycled content in their products and product packaging.
Robert, tell us about how the company started.
We created A Greener Solution because our suppliers and customers asked us to do more to help them reduce landfilling and increase recycling. We focus on reducing waste and recovering recyclables. We first look at what materials are being landfilled and what can be diverted to recycling. We help clients realign their trash services to make sure they have the appropriate service, and then we look at what’s left to see if waste to energy is cost-effective to go to zero landfill.
How does this analysis start?
We create a baseline of current waste costs and recycling. A Greener Solution then projects increases in recycling revenue to show potential savings. Those savings or income figures are often too significant to ignore. We provide a detailed proposal that highlights the potential hard and soft savings.
Often, we start at one plant working with a team that includes facilities, purchasing, production and finance. We have been approached by executives for a corporate-wide program. That approach almost always starts with pilot programs.
A Greener Solution partnered with DuPont in its “Zero to Landfill” program recently. What’s the result there?
As one of DuPont’s partners in this effort, we helped the company’s Building Innovations business achieve zero landfill status in less than three years. DuPont formed a Six Sigma team in 2009 to help better manage the more than 81 million pounds of landfill waste generated annually at 15 global sites. Through the resulting “Drive to Zero” landfill avoidance program, all waste generated from the manufacture of Corian®, Zodiaq™, Tyvek® and geosynthetic textiles are now reused or recycled. We audited plants, mapped out waste streams, set up waste collection stations and developed solutions for manufacturing by-products, unusable raw materials and product scrap. More than 28 million pounds of Tyvek® scrap alone are recycled in A Greener Solutions’ Maine Plastics plant in Richmond, Va.
How about the front end—the beginning of the product life cycle?
Increasingly, more of our clients are asking us to participate in product development discussions regarding the recyclability of materials that might be used in the products and packaging. In those types of discussions, we evaluate the goals of the product, cost options, and how it will be marketed.
For example, we work from the End of Life (EOL) back to the base materials. With more states and countries leaning toward producer responsibility legislation, EOL is a key element in material selection and product design. We also consider how a product is assembled with relation to its recyclability. If components of electronic products could pop out, their recyclability may be enhanced and the waste might be reclassified from E-waste to scrap metal. In packaging, changing the material of a label from PVC to PET on a PET clamshell can make a big difference.
What about bio-based materials?
With bio-based resins, we have to consider recyclability as part of sustainability. The infrastructure for recycling PLA, for example, is not as developed as for oil-based resins. There have been attempts to chemically recycle PLA with limited success. Bio-based resins that mimic oil-based materials are just being introduced. They have a better chance for success.
Thank you, Robert, for inspiring readers to take a fresh look at their operations as they chart their next steps toward sustainability.
A Greener Solution currently manages 350 million lbs. of waste and recyclables for more than 200 manufacturing facilities. Headquartered in Zion, Ill., with 11 plants across the country (Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska, Utah, North Carolina, Delaware, New York, Connecticut, Virginia), A Greener Solution can cost-effectively transport materials and handle logistics, helping clients control costs and maximize revenue opportunities while reducing carbon footprints. Read case studies and learn more about the company’s services by visiting www.agreenersolution.com.
