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Employees grow greener operation Employees at our Valvoline™ motor oil manufacturing and packaging plant in East Rochester, Pa., have taken on the challenge to decrease our environmental impact by curbing energy usage and reusing, reducing and recycling waste. Last fiscal year, the site’s overall solid waste generation was reduced by 48 percent while recycled materials grew by 26 percent. Housekeeping and maintenance standards have been established that eliminated many leaks and drips that produce oily water. The engineering group designed a dripless sample port, eliminating drips and collection buckets that were always a challenge to manage. In the past, these containers collected storm water, additives and oil that ended up as a waste stream. In the past fiscal year, the site reduced its oily waste shipments by 99,000 pounds |
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The team then identified the next opportunity – reduce waste generated from operations. Their mission was to make recycling convenient and easy so that it can be sustained. Employees set up a central collection area by the plant maintenance shop to collect and segregate miscellaneous waste for recycling. Teaming up with the right recycler also made a big difference. The recycler takes all of the site's recycled materials, allowing for more frequent shipments and using less storage space.
“Our team has been extra diligent in ensuring all items that can be recycled are placed in the proper receptacle. Recycling has become sustainable and is part of our culture,” said Mike Critchlow, plant manager.
As part of our commitment to Responsible Care*, the practices are now being standardized at similar plants, with a target of an additional 4.6 percent reduction in solid waste. In addition, the College Park, Ga., and Indianapolis facilities have objectives to achieve zero landfill waste by the end of the year. This means reducing the waste volumes and converting the small remaining quantity of waste to energy.
