2004 Governor's Awards Recipients
Honorable Mentions
Outreach or Education
Lake County Solid Waste Management District - Merrillville
The Lake County Solid Waste Management District is dedicated to educating the community on managing solid waste and conserving our natural environment and its resources. The completion of the "Indiana Stream" was an instrumental part of this educational effort. This fully-functioning indoor trout stream provides visitors of all ages with an excellent educational opportunity. Integrating the balance between nature and industry, visitors are able to learn how they can impact the environment and best management practices for improving the water around them. A multi-level hands-on curriculum complements the "Indiana Stream", providing children of all ages with an in-depth opportunity to further explore this topic.
Energy/Renewable Resources
Precoat Metals, a Division of Sequa Coatings Corporation, Portage Plant
The Precoat Metals Portage Plant is a metal coil coating facility. In January 2002, the plant proactively replaced an existing regenerative thermal oxidizer with a more thermally and VOC-destruction- efficient unit. The new regenerative oxidizer also has a new patented valve switching technology that had never been used before in the regenerative design. The new oxidizer uses significantly less energy than the prior unit, and the VOC destruction efficiency exceeds 99 percent, which will allow the plant to comply with the new metal coil NESHAP standard in 2005.
Awards
Outreach or Education
Allen County Partnership for Water Quality and Anthis Career Center - Fort Wayne
Many communities around the country are facing the Stormwater Phase II challenge of educating residents about storm water pollution. To address this need and bring the subject to young children, the Allen County Partnership for Water Quality created a Storm Water Activity Book and enlisted the help of three talented and dedicated high school students for its design. Hilary Doenges, Tommy Curry and Andrea Light, all students at Fort Wayne's Anthis Career Center, donated their time to create a publication that teaches kindergarten through third graders about storm water. This 12-page booklet uses word finds, connect-the-dots, and coloring pages to teach the complicated subject of storm water to young children who are often hard to reach with conventional publications. In the past year, 16,000 of these books have been printed, and 19 entities throughout the country are using this book in their storm water education programs.
Eli Lilly and Company - Tippecanoe Laboratories - Lafayette
Lilly Tippecanoe Laboratories Wildlife Habitat Team helped facilitate an elementary school seed germination and growing project. The two-year project began in 2002 when a lesson plan for germination was co-developed between Lilly, Purdue, and Mintonye Elementary teachers. Sixteen teachers from grades K-5 participated in the project. Germination and Planting Guidelines were prepared and shared with the teachers. Purdue Agriculture Education professors and undergraduates prepared curricula for the project. Over 475 students participated in growing plants and 185 fifth graders participated in planting days at Tippecanoe Labs, transplanting 2,000 plants to the habitat area soil. Lunch, singing, and tours of the forty-acre habitat area were given during each visit.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana , Incorporated - Princeton
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Indiana , Incorporated has expanded its Earth Day from a single day, internal celebration, into a month-long community involvement activity. The following outreach activities have evolved from this expanded vision: In the area of Community Outreach: Earth Aware Camp and Team Member Volunteer Activity; In the area of Philanthropic Efforts: Butterfly Retreat; and in the area of Team Member Awareness: Team Member Gift, Quiz/Prize Drawing, and Team Member Communication. The excellence of Earth Month is the product of involving our team members, as well as their households, their children, and their community.
Recycling/Reuse
Madison Precision Products, Incorporated - Madison
Madison Precision Products began a recycling program in 2001 in response to a mandate from executive management during an ISO 14001 review. Madison Precision Products reduced the amount of garbage sent to the landfill by 44 percent in 2003 from the 2001 benchmark of 17 tons per month. Although total waste generation has grown slightly (16.4%) with an increase in production, a reduction in garbage disposal of 10 tons per month was achieved, and a goal of no more than 8.5 tons per month was set for 2004. Simultaneously, Madison Precision Products has reduced paper use by almost 14 percent since 2001, and also donates all ink and toner cartridges (500 in 2003) to Southwestern Elementary School. Madison Precision Products donates half of the money saved by recycling to charity.
Milltown Elementary - Milltown
In August 2003, Chad Schenck's third grade class decided to expand its in-room, small-scale recycling program, as well as an existing school program which involved just the cafeteria and janitorial services departments' recycling of cardboard and some plastics. The program grew into a school-wide, full-blown recycling program, including all the school's classrooms. With the hard work and cooperation of the class's 18 students, all 226 students of Milltown elementary are involved in the comprehensive program which includes the recycling of not only cardboard and plastics, but also paper, aluminum, and newspapers. Mr. Schenck hopes that this program and the students' involvement is just the first step in their environmental awareness and action, and that it continues as a lifelong journey of practicing and sharing what they've learned.
Nucor Steel - Crawfordsville
In 2003, Nucor Steel installed and operated in acid rinse water evaporator. The evaporator was installed to reclaim water from the waste stream and reuse it on-site. Previously, the acid rinse water was disposed of as a hazardous waste. Now, reclaiming the water and reusing it on-site has reduced the amount of fresh water being used and has resulted in a significant reduction in the amount of hazardous waste shipped off-site for disposal.
Pollution Prevention/Source Reduction
Criterion Catalysts & Technologies - Michigan City Plant
Criterion Catalyst & Technologies eliminated the use of 23,000 pounds of Aqua Ammonia from the manufacturing process for Alumina Powder in 2003.
Eliminating the need for Ammonia during powder production eliminates the likelihood of a release of Ammonia that could affect plant personnel, the neighboring community and the environment. The completion of this project resulted in a successful pollution prevention initiative for the Michigan City facility.
Fort Wayne Anodizing - Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne Anodizing made a change in the chemistry of the acid bath that reduced the production of hazardous waste. The reduction was enough to reclassify Fort Wayne Anodizing from a large quantity generator to a small quantity generator.
Lone Star Industries, Inc., dba Buzzi Unicem USA - Greencastle
As part of a plant expansion at its Greencastle facility, Lone Star Industries installed an innovative semi-dry process technology to increase production of cement klinker while reducing emissions. This is the first plant of its kind in the United States . After the first full year of operation, results showed substantial reductions in both criteria air pollutants and hazardous air pollutants. Sulfur dioxide emissions were reduced by 3.8 million pounds per year and nitrogen oxide emissions were reduced by 2.5 million pounds per year while nearly doubling production.
Uniseal, Incorporated - Evansville
During the summer of 2003, Uniseal reformulated their Nitrile Vinyl closed cell sponge rubber and sealant manufacturing processes, which previously involved the use of a lead compound. The reformulation consisted of a product substitution, which resulted in a reduction in lead usage after implementation in 2003. In its foam division, Uniseal, Inc. reduced lead usage by approximately 56 percent in 2003 compared to the previous year, and by approximately 57 percent in its adhesive division. Lead usage, and therefore lead waste generation, was completely eliminated in 2004. The elimination of lead from the manufacturing process is not only a benefit to the customer and to Uniseal employees, but also eliminates the risk of accidental release and contamination to the environment during waste transportation and handling.
5-Years' Continuous Improvement
Delphi Electronics and Safety - Kokomo Operations
Delphi Electronics and Safety, a division of Delphi Corporation, is a major supplier of automotive electronics, and home to over 3,000 employees at its Kokomo Operations. Delphi is dedicated to protecting human health, natural resources and the environment. To that end, in November 1998 Delphi 's Kokomo Operations implemented an environmental management system (EMS) in conformance with the specifications and requirements of ANSI/ISO 14001- 1996, which ultimately led to third party certification to the standard in April 2000. Delphi 's Kokomo Operations' environmental policy, which is the foundation of its EMS , makes continual improvement, obeying the law, and prevention of pollution the responsibility of all employees.
Over the past five years Delphi's Kokomo Operations has implemented twenty-five (25) "Environmental Management Programs" to achieve identified objectives and targets consistent with its environmental policy and commitment to pollution prevention.
NTN Driveshaft, Incorporated - Columbus
NTN Driveshafts' Environmental Management System (ISO 14001) has been in place since April 1999. Compliance with Laws, Pollution Prevention and Continuous Improvement are the key elements of NTN's program. NTN Driveshaft's Environmental Management System has contributed to numerous continuous improvements, such as:
- 5 years of continuous compliance;
- added automation that reduced natural gas consumption;
- water management programs that resulted in a 1.8 million gallon reduction in potable water usage, a reduction in solid waste sludge generation;
- a reduction in lead grease use and a reduction in Hazardous waste lead grease generation;
- implemented a recycling program that eliminated a 14,300 gallons of hazardous Sulfuric Acid and contributed to achieving a small quantity generator status for 2004;
- implemented additional recycling programs that reduced absorbent waste and recycled over 35,000 pounds of plastic;
- implemented "Waste-to-Energy" programs that converted solid waste and oily debris to energy, resulting in saving or otherwise reducing the use of oil for fuel and producing 3.3 kilowatt hours of electricity. These Waste-to-Energy projects have resulted in an equal amount of solid waste being removed from the landfill.
Additional Information
- Questions or comments about this site may be addressed to "recycling at idem.IN.gov"
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