Pollution Engineering - October 2008 - (Page 19)

GREENCONNECTIONS By Barbara Quinn Sustainable or Green? Some companies haven’t had to ‘go green,’ as they’ve been there all along. But even these companies are ﬁnding means of cutting emissions further and taking the next step in environmental stewardship. The trick is to look at your processes and ﬁnd the low-hanging fruit. reen is the newly discovered color of the year, encouraging companies and individuals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fight global warming. A number of them were newly green, so when Millipore Corp.’s chairman, CEO and president Martin Madaus introduced his company’s Sustainability Initiative in May 2008, some casual observers saw the announcement as part of the new tide of awareness. They were wrong. The initiative builds on a track record of environmental responsibility, creating a long-term program aimed at reducing the company’s environmental impact and carbon footprint by 20 percent over five years. It is also a practical goal, combining practical business savvy with a keen sense of environmental responsibility. G annually. The company’s strategy centered on systems that would minimize the emissions and recapture solvent for future use. Solvent is removed from the waste stream using activated carbon. Steam stripping then recovers between 75 and 80 percent of the solvent. The company reuses about 20 to 25 percent of that volume, with the remainder recycled externally. Guzzle less gas The company has already cut its carbon footprint (and, given $4/gallon gas, saved a good chunk of money) through a process that can be followed by most businesses: improving the efficiency of its vehicle fleet. In October 2007, the company began deployment of a program to replace its 300-vehical fleet with more fuel-efficient vehicles, including hybrids. Employees who were eligible for company vehicles were offered Toyota Prius or Camry hybrids, along with bonuses of $1,000 for selecting the Prius and $750 for choosing the Camry. For situations that required vehicles with larger cargo space than was available in a hybrid, the company selected the most fuel-efficient vehicles produced by Toyota. Three months after the program launched, more than 100 vehicles had been replaced, moving the company well toward its goal of reducing by half the 2,000 tons of CO2 emissions produced by its U.S. fleet. Other emissions sources were even more challenging to isolate or address. In May 2007, the company joined EPA’s Climate Leaders program, committing to develop a company-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory based on the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard. The company has produced its baseline inventory and, with the release of its sustainability initiative, is focusing on its GHG reduction goal of 20 percent in the next five years. Millipore does not claim a perfect environmental record but it has responded quickly to problems and demonstrated its determination to reduce its environmental footprint. Now, with the new initiative, they are also confirming that green has to be a process, not a single achievement. PE “ …Green has to be a process, not a single achievement. ” Ba Barbara Quinn has written about environmental, public po policy and economic development issu issues for over 25 years. She has been pu published in magazines serving the env environmental, industrial and municipal co communities. She can be contacted at bq bqwords@comcast.net. Other emission cuts Not all emissions are so easy to manage. At the company’s Jaffrey, N.H., site, the necessary solvents used in the production of several filtration devices could emit more than 30,000 pounds of dichloromethane (DCM) Visit www.pollutionen www.pollutionengineering.com and electronically forward a copy of this article to a colleague or customer. OCTOBER2008 www.pollutionengineering.com 19 http://www.pollutionengineering.com http://www.pollutionengineering.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Pollution Engineering - October 2008

Pollution Engineering - October 2008 Contents The Editor’s Desk EnviroNews PE Events Legal Lookout Green Connections Clearing the Air Water for People There’s a New Show in Town Catching Wind for Clean Water Taking the Pressure off Blower Selection Pulsed Plasma Positive Redundancy Product Focus: Municipal Water Treatment Product Focus: Monitoring Equipment PE Products Classified Marketplace Advertisers Index State Rules

Pollution Engineering - October 2008

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