Recycling
Pennsylvanias recycling initiatives seems to be working for businesses. Last year, the stepped-up efforts of small businesses contributed to the states municipal recycling rate of 30 percent. Larger companies are often targeted for buy-recycled programs, but smaller businesses, especially when their efforts are combined, can account for sizable recycling practices.
Valley Farms Dairy, for example, recycles 55 percent of its mixed office paper, oil from plant machinery and its 100 truck fleet, as well as 55-gallon drums used to ship orange juice. They eliminated the 55-gallon drums of chemicals for cleaning plant equipment by receiving a bulk delivery piped directly into its containers.
Restek Corp., a manufacturer of gas and liquid chromatography products, saves $100,000 each year by using recycled products. They reduced weekly garbage pickups from three to one after installing an office recycling program which includes paper, cardboard, plastic, glass and aluminum. The company buys fused silica tubing, which is shipped on PS reels, which is then shipped back to the supplier who reuses them. The shipping bill is cheaper than disposing the PS.
The majority of goods that PA.s Department of Environmental Protection uses are made from recycled materials: office paper, videotape, mouse pads, and even seat cushions at the Penn State stadium.
Certified Wood
Governor Tom Ridge symbolically handed over the first consignment of certified ash to garden tool manufacturing firm, True Temper. The firm is a member of the WWF-UK
1995 plus group, a coalition of wood retailers, traders and suppliers dedicated to
purchasing certified forest products.
PA. is one of the first states in the U.S. to have its forests certified. 1.2 million acres of forests have been certified so far by Scientific Certification Systems. B&Q, a large do-it-yourself UK chain and member of the group, is a major buyer of True Temper tools. True Tempers use of certified wood guarantees the company future association with B&Q.
Renewable Energy
See this months Business Activism section, and Dec. 98 News Briefs section.
The “1998 Buyer’s Guide to Recycled Products” is available from the Pennsylvania Resources Council. 700 products from 200 companies are divided into six categories: building materials, business and school products, clothing, household, outdoor, and promotional. The guide lists the total amount of recycled material in each product and percent of post-consumer waste.
Download it from their website: [sorry this link is no longer available]
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