2Sustain

United Utilities,which owns and operates the water network in northwest England, has launched a new initiative to convert old vehicle tires into useful products.

The water company has a fleet of 1411 vans, wagons and tankers and replaces around 52 tonnes of tires each year.

Now, through a partnership with Direct Tire Management, every waste tire will go through a unique process to turn the rubber casings into playground safety surfaces and synthetic sports surfaces. In addition, the steel belt and bead wire from the tires will be recycled to produce manhole covers, among other items.

“We’ve been looking at ways to make our supply chain more sustainable and this is a great example of how a problem waste stream can be turned into something with real value,” Tony Edwards, from United Utilities’ supply chain team, explained in a press release. “Every part of the tire is reused in some way, meaning there is zero landfill. The steel finds its way back onto the region’s roads in the shape of manhole covers over our sewers and water pipes, and the rubber bounces back as a safety surface for use under outdoor play equipment. We even use the textile content of the tires for equestrian arenas. This scheme has created a true closed-loop recycling system.” (more…)

The US Postal Service is starting to see significant cost savings from its green initiatives.

For example, the Postal Service says its “Lean Green Teams” reduced energy, water, solid waste to landfills and petroleum fuel use last year, saving the agency more than $5 million in 2010 alone. These teams also helped recycle more than 222,000 tons of material — an increase of nearly 8,000 tons over the prior year — which generated $13 million in revenue, and saved an additional $9.1 million in landfill fees.

According to the Postal Service, these employee green teams are helping mesh low-cost and no-cost sustainable practices with performance management systems to help the agency meet its specific sustainability goals by the target date in 2015. These goals include reducing

• facility energy use 30 percent,
• water use 10 percent,
• petroleum fuel use 20 percent, and
• landfill waste 50 percent. (more…)

Minneapolis-based Target Corporation has stepped up its efforts toward environmental sustainability.

Last month, the company announced several new company-wide sustainability commitments –all of which underscore how Target has incorporated “going green” into its overall business strategy.

More specifically, Target says it plans to: (more…)

Late last month, Caterpillar announced that two of its facilities achieved zero waste to landfill in 2010.

Both the Caterpillar Remanufacturing & Components Division United Kingdom Hose Assembly (UKHA) plant in Leicester, England and the Caterpillar Logistics Services (Cat Logistics) in Desford, England have reached 100-percent recycling for their operations.

In a press release, Caterpillar outlines specific accomplishments at each facility. For instance, at the Cat Logistics Services in Desford: (more…)

P&G underscored its commitment to environmental sustainability with the announcement last week that its Auburn, Maine site is now zero waste to landfill. The Auburn site, which produces feminine care products, is the first P&G manufacturing plant in North America to achieve this goal.

According to P&G, the plant now recycles or reuses more than 60 percent of its waste. The remainder is converted to energy. The company says forming business partnerships was critical for meeting the zero waste goal.

For instance, the P&G Global Asset Recovery Purchases (GARP) team, which is charged with finding external partners that can turn waste and non-performing inventory into something useful, connected the plant with a site solution provider who helped sort all recyclable materials and convert existing non-recyclable materials to energy through incineration. The electricity from the incineration is used by the incineration facility and then, the excess is sold to the local power company. P&G estimates that the GARP team has diverted tens of thousands of tons from landfills while delivering tens of millions of dollars in cost recovery in the past year alone. (more…)