by greensambaman
EPA Assistance
The WasteWi$ e program will offer several forms of technical assistance to help participating companies find waste reduction opportunities and set waste reduction goals. The following resources will be available to provide details on the elements of a successful program:
- EPA’s A Business Guide for Reducing Solid Waste.
- Case studies of successful waste reduction by businesses.
- Tip sheets on waste reduction.
- Project updates.
- Additional sources of waste reduction information.
WasteWise staff will be available by telephone (1-800-EPAWISE) to assist you with questions on:
- Enrollment
- Waste assessments
- Goal setting
- Waste reduction tips
- Reporting
EPA’s technical assistance will focus on nonmanufacturing waste reduction actions.
Waste Reduction Successes
These are just a few of the many firms that are successfully cutting waste …
Waste Prevention
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company estimates that it saves approximately $ 300,000 each year through numerous waste prevention measures, including:
- Reducing or eliminating shrink wrap packaging on forms and handbooks.
- Using double-sided copies and electronic mail.
- Reusing remanufactured laser cartridges, pallets, three-ring binders, and packing materials.
McDonald’s has made waste prevention part of its everyday business. Over the past year, through reductions in children’s meal boxes and bags, sandwich wrap resizing, container packaging redesign, and other reductions, the average McDonald’s restaurant in the United States has decreased its packaging by more than 650 pounds. These reductions resulted in a total of nearly 3,000 tons of avoided packaging waste from the 9,000 McDonald’s restaurants.
Recycling Collection
In 1986, a small group of employees at Honda of America’s Marysville, Ohio, auto assembly plant, called the “Wastewatchers,” started a corrugated cardboard recycling program. Honda estimates that from 1990 to 1992, approximately 15,000 tons of corrugated cardboard were recycled, saving the company hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in avoided disposal costs.
Buying or Manufacturing Recycled Products
E.I. DuPont Company currently buys $ 63 million worth of recycled packaging materials and other recycled products each year. Since 1990, a “buy-recycled” team has worked to increase the company’s purchases of packaging, paper products, plastics, office supplies, and construction materials with recycled content.
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