Oregon DEQ: Land Quality - Solid Waste - Commercial Waste Reduction Clearinghouse - Success Stories

Product Packaging

Business: Alcan Cable (Roseburg)

Number of Employees: 150

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Alcan Cable works with customers to reduce the amount of packaging material required. For example, Alcan Cable no longer wraps certain products in plastic wrap prior to shipment.

Gaylord containers and pallets are reused or sold for reuse.

Alcan Cable recycles office paper, newsprint, and cardboard, and virtually 100% of the 2 million pounds of aluminum scrap produced each year. The company recently began recycling 26 tons per year of plastic scrap resulting from insulation coating around the cable.

Case Study

None

Business: Bend Memorial Clinic (Bend)

Number of Employees: 375

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Identified examples of unnecessary packaging of medical products and sent letters to vendors requesting more resource efficient packaging.

A clinic-wide paper waste prevention program reduced per-employee use of paper by 12% in one year. Employees were asked to make double-sided copies, reuse paper that had already been used on one side, and reprogram printers and fax machines to eliminate printing of unneeded fax transmission reports and blank pages between print jobs. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $1,550/year (paper costs only; printing and labor savings not included). RESOURCE SAVINGS: 65 cases (3,250 pounds) of paper/year.

Changed from printing timesheets on large greenbar paper to a smaller (8½ x 11") paper. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 300 pounds of paper/year.

Case Study

None

Business: Bergen Brunswig Medical (Tigard)

Number of Employees: 40

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Bergen Brunswig Medical’s Tigard office and warehouse provides medical and surgical supplies to more than 1,000 hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and medical offices.

Reuses vendor supply boxes to ship orders to customers. Empty supply boxes are stored near the product re-packing area for convenient reuse. This has reduced the purchase of new shipping boxes by two-thirds. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $22,500/year, plus reduced staff time for assembling new boxes and recycling. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 30,000 pounds of paper boxes/year.

Eliminated the purchase of polystyrene packing "peanuts" and paper dunnage for packing. Shipping boxes are packed with shredded paper from the accounting office and newspaper supplied by employees. Any "peanuts" received are reused. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $5,000/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 12,000 pounds of paper/year, plus "peanuts."

Two-thirds of all pallets received are reused for large-volume orders. Other pallets are sold to a company that repairs and resells them. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $36,700/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 120+ tons/year.

Recycles office paper and purchases green-bar computer paper made with recycled content.

Case Study

Case study exists, call Metro, 503-234-3000.

Business: BMC West Building Materials (Beaverton)

Number of Employees: unknown

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BMC West supplies building materials to contractors and homeowners.

Metal banding on shipments of lumber is cut and then stored for reuse. The banding is rolled and stored on the back of forklifts or in a box in the customer loading area. To use smaller pieces of banding, a crimper and clips are used to join material of the same width into pieces of sufficient length. BMC uses a style of banding gun that can be adjusted to fit a variety of widths. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $2,000/year.

Doors arrive layered between thin plywood sheets (skins) and stacked on pallets. BMC West initiated a process to return the skins and pallets to the door distributor for reuse.

Pallets are returned to distributors whenever possible. Damaged pallets are donated to a local supplier.

Some plastic wrap on incoming loads of lumber is saved and reused on outgoing customer loads. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: more than $500/year.

Usable scrap and defective wood is sorted, banded into bundles of mixed types and sold at a discount.

The paint department buys back clean five-gallon paint buckets from contractors. These are sold to retail customers for mixing paint.

Case Study

Case study exists, call Metro, 503-234-3000.

Business: Coffee Resort (Milwaukie)

Number of Employees: 4

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Repaired a major leak in the toilet. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $1,764/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 332,000 gallons/year.

Purchases dish soap in bulk (larger containers), thus reducing packaging waste. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $20/year.

Washes dishes in dish pans rather than the sink. This saves water, the energy to heat it, and detergent. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $67/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 950 kWh and 6,700 gallons of water/year.

Reduced the number of outside lights. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $225/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 2,360 kWh/year.

Offers reusable mugs for in-store coffee consumption, as an alternative to disposables. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $175/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 178 pounds of disposable cups/year.

Case Study

None

Business: Corvallis-Benton County Public Library (Corvallis)

Number of Employees: 62

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Transports books between locations in durable plastic totes, rather than paper boxes.

Uses remanufactured toner cartridges. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $325/year.

Buys stationery containing recycled paper.

Recycles office paper, corrugated cardboard boxes, newspaper, yard debris, and bottles and cans.

Encourages the reuse of books through an annual used book sale. Consolidates unsaleable books with Oregon State University for recycling.

The Library has an unofficial policy banning the use of brightly colored papers ("astrobrights") which are difficult to recycle. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $200/year.

All restroom sinks have self-regulating faucets that provide water for about three seconds before shutting off. Water is also set at a constant temperature, so patrons don’t waste water adjusting the temperature.

Reduced run times on automatic sprinkler irrigation system from 20 minutes per station to 6-10 minutes per station. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: approximately $530/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: approximately 440,000 gallons of water/year.

As bulbs in exit signs burn out, staff are replacing them with LED lamps. LED lamps have life expectancies of 30 to 50 years, compared to 4 to 6 months for traditional incandescent lamps. The full retrofit will cost $1,352. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $628/year when fully implemented (electricity and bulb savings, labor savings not included). RESOURCE SAVINGS: 8,000 kWh/year (when fully implemented).

Case Study

Case study exists.

Business: Corvallis Hardware/ True Value (Corvallis)

Number of Employees: 11

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Corvallis Hardware purchases the large majority of its products from Cotter & Company. Deliveries from the Portland distribution center are shipped in reusable plastic totes. Empty totes from the previous week are picked up for reuse when new merchandise is dropped off.

Cotter & Company also redesigned its billing statement; invoices are now sent every two weeks rather than weekly. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: more than $20,000/year (Cotter & Company). RESOURCE SAVINGS: 22.5 tons of paper/year (Cotter & Company).

Corvallis Hardware is also retrofitting magnetic ballasts and T-12 fluorescent lamps with electronic ballasts and T-8 lamps as old lamps and ballasts burn out. This will eventually reduce electricity bills by about $1,300/year.

Case Study

Case study exists.

Business: Cottage Flowers (Cannon Beach)

Number of Employees: 3

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Large packing boxes that flowers arrive in are saved and sent back with the flower supply company for reuse. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 187 pounds of packaging/year.

Flowers arrive packed in tissue paper. This tissue paper is saved and reused for wrapping bouquets, rather than buying new. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $60/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 109 pounds/year.

Rather than buying new paper bags, Cottage Flowers picks up paper bags at the local recycling center and reuses them. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $42/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 260 pounds/year.

Reduced hot water temperature by 10 degrees Fahrenheit. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $4/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 70 kWh/year.

Case Study

None

Business: Delta Engineering and Manufacturing (Tualatin)

Number of Employees: unknown

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Delta Engineering manufactures and assembles precision custom sheet metal parts for its customers.

Created a "closed-loop system" for some transport packaging. By convincing a customer to use a local vendor for an interim manufacturing step, Delta Engineering was able to create custom packaging to ship sheet metal parts. The second vendor inserts additional components, then ships the completed assembly to the end customer. The durable cardboard packaging is returned to Delta Engineering and is reused at least 10 times before being recycled. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: more than $50,000/year.

Modular wheeled metal racks are used for parts delivery to a local customer. Large parts are loaded onto multi-layered racks, covered with reusable protectors and secured with flexible cords. Racks are delivered directly to the customer’s assembly area and empty racks are brought back to Delta Engineering.

The closure for a specific cardboard box was changed from tape and staples to Velcro. The improved carton is returned to Delta Engineering and reused for two to three years before being recycled.

Delta Engineering designed and built reusable containers to ship one of its products to a customer. After shipment, the customized containers are returned to Delta Engineering. The cardboard and wood containers are reused as many as 130 times.

Manufacturing areas that have the highest cleanliness requirements receive new cardboard sheets used to separate and protect parts during manufacturing. Slightly used separators are passed on to other work areas with decreasing requirements for cleanliness.

Foam pads, similar to the cardboard sheets, are also used several times, including shipments to customers. Pads are returned to Delta Engineering when possible.

Pallets are reused on site and returned to suppliers for reuse when possible.

Case Study

Case study exists, call Metro, 503-234-3000.

Business: John L. Scott Realty (Gresham)

Number of Employees: unknown

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Information such as new listings and schedules for continuing education classes are shared with all agents using voice mail, rather than printed notices. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $300 to $500/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 130 pounds of paper/year.

Cardboard boxes such as copy paper boxes are saved and given to clients for moving. This reduces waste and provides a valuable customer service.

Case Study

Brochure exists: "Sold on Waste Prevention!" (prepared by HLA for Metro); Call Metro, 503-234-3000.

Business: Legacy Health Systems (Portland)

Number of Employees: unknown

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Created an organizational policy to eliminate mercury - the first hospital in Oregon to do so and among the first 200 hospitals in the US.

Replaced disposable foam mattresses with reusables. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $81,527/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 16,350 pounds/year.

Switched from buying juice in 32 oz. glass container to 60 oz. plastic container (containers are recycled; larger containers use less material). FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $125/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 2,500 pounds/year.

Eliminated rarely-used items from custom packs of surgical supplies. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: more than $30,000/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 11,000 pounds/year.

Consolidated duplicative admitting kits for maternity patients. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: more than $3,500/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 2,700 pounds/year.

Switched from disposable gowns and drapes to reusable ones. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $100,000/year. (For one surgery unit only, Legacy is trying to do this organization-wide).

Reduces photocopying by keeping originals in shared files. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: more than $128,000/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 2,100 pounds/year.

Customized the distribution of reports and newsletters; periodically checks distribution lists and only sends reports and newsletters to departments and individuals who request them. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: more than $10,000/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 4,100 pounds/year.

Consolidated seven different patient forms into a single flow sheet. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $158/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 300 pounds/year.

Eliminated unused third page of three-part carbonless form. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $199/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 60 pounds/year.

In 1999, recycled cardboard, 1.1 million pounds of office paper, 72,000 pounds of glass bottles, 54,000 pounds of metal, and 92,000 pounds of several resins of plastics. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $83,000/year.

Recycled 1 ton of lead-acid and NiCd batteries in 1999.

Case Study

Case study exists, call Metro, 503-234-3000.

Mark Kidd, Recycling Specialist for Legacy Health reports that a total of $297,000 was saved through waste reduction and recycling in 1999.

Business: Lochmead Dairy (Junction City)

Number of Employees: 40

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Lochmead Dairy sells milk, ice cream, and other products through its 45 Dari-Mart stores, which are all located within 35 miles of the dairy (between Philomath and Creswell). At least 45% of all milk Lochmead processes is sold in reusable bottles, and an estimated 93.5% of the bottles are returned for reuse. The durable polycarbonate containers are lightweight, virtually unbreakable, and can be refilled 100 times. Customers pay a 60 cent deposit and collect the money when they bring the empty bottle back, although most people put the money toward their next milk purchase. Lochmead also provides non-returnable containers to shoppers who don’t want to return them.

Case Study

None

Business: Me and Company (Winston)

Number of Employees: 2

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Me and Company is a stained glass studio, including retail sales of stained glass supplies and space for classes and workshops.

All scrap glass generated in the studio is saved for use in smaller projects or donated to the art teacher at Douglas High School for student projects.

Broken window glass is accepted from the public for use in teaching students how to cut glass.

Recovering lead from leaded stained glass projects and waste solder is a skill taught to classes.

Polystyrene packing peanuts, office paper, and paper towels used to clean glass pieces are reused.

Work tables are made from scrap lumber or old kitchen cabinets.

Scrap glass bins are old kitchen cabinet drawers.

Cardboard, yard waste, and beverage containers are also recycled.

Case Study

None

Business: Melanie’s Flowers (Cannon Beach)

Number of Employees: 2

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Melanie’s Flowers is a flower and coffee shop.

Large packing boxes that flowers arrive in are saved and sent back with the flower supply company for reuse. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 190 pounds/year.

When coffee is served in disposable cups, staff used to automatically "double cup" all drinks. Staff switched to asking if a single or double cup was preferred. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: more than $800/year in cup costs. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 390 pounds/year.

Uses reusable, washable coffee filters. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $125/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 50 pounds/year.

Installed toilet "dummy" (sealed bags filled with a weight, such as rocks) in the tanks of all toilets. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $20/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 5,100 gallons/year.

Repaired leaking window.

Reduced size of coffee club cards.

Case Study

None

Business: Murray Hill Thriftway (Beaverton)

Number of Employees: unknown

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Cleaning supplies are purchased from a company that takes back empty cleaning fluid bottles and refills them.

Unsold produce is set aside for Centro Cultural, a center for migrant farm workers. The program benefits the needy and saves the store about $6,000/year in disposal bills while also providing a tax deduction.

Case Study

Call Metro, 503-234-3000.

Business: Periwinkle (Bend)

Number of Employees: 7

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This retailer of home furniture and furnishings began setting aside packaging materials for reuse. Some of the store’s extra polystyrene packing "peanuts" are now picked up by a local manufacturer of scientific equipment, who no longer has to buy new "peanuts" to pack their goods in. Other packaging materials, such as boxes, are often picked up by people who are moving or need mailing boxes. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $410/year in reduced garbage and recycling fees. RESOURCE SAVINGS: approximately 1,000 pounds of packaging reused/year.

Case Study

None

Business: RBD Enterprises (Bend)

Number of Employees: <10

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RBD Enterprises repairs and sells used electron microscopes and other imaging equipment used by research laboratories.

RBD uses polystyrene packing "peanuts" to protect some of the sensitive equipment during shipping. Through participation in a local resource efficiency program, the company learned that another local business, Periwinkle (a retailer) had polystyrene "peanuts" from its suppliers that it was tossing out. Periwinkle now saves its waste packaging for RBD, who no longer has to purchase new "peanuts." FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $600/year (to RBD Enterprises). RESOURCE SAVINGS: 600 pounds/year.

Switched from folded paper towels to cloth towels in employee restrooms. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $38/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 50 pounds of paper towels/year.

Case Study

None

Business: Rogue Wave Software (Corvallis)

Number of Employees: 175

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Rogue Wave Software develops, markets, and ships computer software products that support software libraries for computer programmers and math experts. The company has implemented several efficiencies in its product packaging:

Previously, each product (which might consist of several disks and manuals) was packed in a small corrugated cardboard box. Since many of Rogue Wave’s customers order more than one product at a time, these small boxes were then consolidated into one or more larger boxes. Under the new system, manuals and disks are shrink-wrapped together, eliminating the smaller boxes. This has reduced the weight of packaging sent to customers by an estimated 68% and significantly reduces staff time. FINANCIAL SAVINGS (packaging only): $21,000/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 26,200 pounds of packaging/year.

All manual sizes have been standardized, eliminating the guesswork which was previously involved in trying to find the most efficient way to place manuals in the shipping boxes.

A "box sizer" is used to adjust box height to fit the content, eliminating the need to stuff the tops of boxes with protective packaging.

The purchase agreement for each program is printed directly onto the envelope used to protect the disk, eliminating the need for a separate piece of paper.

Some boxes received from the company’s printer are reused to ship large orders of manuals.

Case Study

Case study exists.

Business: Royal Blend Coffee (Bend)

Number of Employees: 22

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Royal Blend Coffee’s First Street Store in Bend added a bulk dispenser of skim milk and stopped purchasing and wasting cartons of skim milk. The dairy supplier provided the dispenser at no charge. Each 6-gallon plastic bag of milk replaces 24 one-quart cartons. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $767/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 812 pounds of packaging/year.

Lamps were removed in the reception area, offices, and conference rooms, all of which were overlit. Exit signs were changed from standard incandescent bulbs to low-energy LED lamps. The lights inside and above the reach-in cooler in the bakery were also turned off. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $143/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 2,400 kWh/year.

Case Study

None

Business: Stahlbush Island Farms, Inc.

Number of Employees: 22

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Stahlbush Island Farms is a grower and processor of fruits and vegetables. Most of the company’s customers are large food product manufacturers.

Water use has been reduced by more than 50%, due to an innovative system where water is used in three or four different applications. Water is used to cool hot pumpkin puree and compressor oil, and to condense ammonia refrigerant. The warmed water is then used to pre-heat both the boiler and pumpkins. Wastewater from pumpkin and equipment washing is applied to fields for irrigation.

Timers were installed on fan motors in freezers so that fans don’t run all of the time. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $4,500/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 133,000 kWh/year.

As targeted motors wear out, they are replaced with high-efficiency motors. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: when fully implemented, this will save $2,300/year in electric bills. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 50,000 kWh/year.

Only "natural" (uncolored) five gallon HDPE plastic pails are used. These pails are easier for customers to recycle.

Ammonia compressor head pressure and boiler pressure have been adjusted to conserve energy.

The farm composts food scraps and is experimenting with using food scraps as cattle feed.

Some bulk products are shipped in reconditioned drums.

Corrugated cardboard boxes and office paper are recycled.

Case Study

Case study exists.

Business: United Grocers

Number of Employees: unknown

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Member stores of the United Grocers cooperative routinely return unsold produce to the warehouse. Most is edible. The warehouse used to pay a hefty bill to landfill this material until the produce manager invited restaurant buyers to bargain for it each morning. The result: big savings for United Grocers and the restaurants.

Whole pallets have always been sent to a repair service for reconditioning.

Pieces of pallets are placed in wood waste totes placed around the warehouse. The scrap wood is then consolidated in a drop box which is collected by a private company who uses the wood scraps to repair other pallets.

Case Study

Call Metro, 503-234-3000.

Business: The Village Baker (Bend)

Number of Employees: <10

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Added a smaller bag for individual baked goods. Each small bag uses less materials and costs less money than a larger bag. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $156/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 290 pounds of bags/year.

Changed shape of one specialty bread to fit in existing, smaller bag.

Provides permanent-ware mugs for customers to use instead of paper cups for in-house purchases of coffee, other hot drinks. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $181/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 210 pounds of disposable cups/year.

Case Study

None