COLUMBUS, OH (WLIO) - The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency recognizes businesses for going above and beyond to protect the environment.
They handed out their Encouraging Environmental Excellence Awards to 48 businesses and organizations statewide. Some local recipients include Lima's Procter & Gamble plant for their goal of having zero waste in landfills and recycling 9,000 tons of plastic, cardboard, and other materials. Ottawa's Whirlpool plant recycled 445 tons of cardboard in 2022 and had a 95% landfill diversion rate. Another award winner was G2 Revolution in Hancock County, which helps other businesses find recycling or reuses for soaps, laundry detergents, and hand sanitizers.
"For the Ohio EPA to have a program that recognizes the recipients like this, it's really kind of like a positive reinforcement for both retail businesses and the Ohio EPA," says Hannah Julian, G2 Revolution, Environmental Project Coordinator. "Because, you know, you have this standard and allow other businesses and entities to be recognized and it encourages us to want to meet that standard."
Other E3 winners include Cooper Farms Cooked Meats in Van Wert and Whirlpool's Findlay plant for their efforts to promote environmental stewardship.
Northwest Ohio winners from Allen, Hancock, Lucas, Richland, Van Wert, and Wood counties
September 19, 2023 Press Release from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency: COLUMBUS, OH (September 19, 2023) – Ohio EPA Director Anne M. Vogel is celebrating 48 businesses and organizations that are going above and beyond to protect Ohio’s environment and continue to show their commitment to environmental stewardship.
“Ohio is the heart of sustainability, and we’re committed to recognizing those at the forefront of innovation and stewardship,” said Ohio EPA Director Anne M. Vogel. “We’re excited to reward companies that are helping children grow up in a safe environment and partnering to support the communities they call home. Their work inspires all of us to do more, and we are proud to share in their success.”
Ohio EPA’s Encouraging Environmental Excellence (E3) program recognizes businesses and organizations through four levels of recognition: Achievement, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. The Encouraging Environmental Excellence in Communities (E3C) program recognizes local governments and communities, which can work toward three levels of recognition: Achievement, Silver, and Gold. The Encouraging Environmental Excellence in Education (E4) program recognizes K-12 public and private schools, which also work through three levels of recognition: Root, Branch, and Leaf.
This year’s statewide E3 award winner is:
The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (E3 Platinum), operates its own composting facility and has composted 34.9 tons of food waste. The Department has a plan that encourages building efficiency while providing better care for incarcerated individuals. This includes an outdoor sensory garden at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, giving the residents access to gardening. Several of their facilities have received LEED Silver or higher certification, and they’re a Better Buildings: Better Projects award winner. All Ohio Department of Corrections facilities had decreases in energy consumption last year and they have reduced water usage by 22% (over 400 million gallons of water saved).
Northwest Ohio award winners include:
Charter Next Generation (Richland County, E3 Silver) uses extrusion lines that are estimated to be 13% more energy efficient than industry standard technologies. They also make efforts to reuse scrap plastic generated during their processes, and were able reuse 80% of this material in house. They are also in the process of transferring to LED lighting, saving approximately $375,000.
Cooper Farms Cooked Meats (Van Wert, E3 Silver) implements a variety of energy efficiency measures, including installing LED lighting and occupancy sensors, using energy efficient motor drives, and installing a new ammonia compressor. Overall, the company saved 2.23 million kWh of energy in 2022. They also have robust recycling program, recycling 99,000 pounds of paper, 424,000 pounds of cardboard, 10,400 pounds of shrinkwrap, 414,000 pounds of wood, and 8,600 pounds of steel and other metals.
Cooper Standard Automotive Inc (Wood County, E3 Silver) developed a new rubber formulation that uses approximately 30% less rubber but yields the same performance quality. They also installed a regenerative thermal oxidizer that reduces emissions and energy use, saving over $750,000 using the new system.
g2 Revolution (Hancock County, E3 Silver) provides recycling solutions to the retail sector. They find reuses or recycling options for soaps, laundry detergents, hand sanitizers, perfumes, and coffee grounds. They also made charitable donations of 4.5 million pounds of soap, household cleaning products, and laundry detergents in 2022.
Madison Middle School (Richland County, E4 Root) students collect unopened food from the cafeteria and donate it to local food banks to reduce food waste and food insecurity. Recycling is implemented throughout the school and is included in the curriculum. Occupancy sensors are utilized in classrooms to reduce unnecessary energy usage and automatic faucets are in place to reduce water usage.
Procter & Gamble Lima (Allen County, E3 Silver) has zero waste to landfill goals. In addition to recycling approximately 9,000 tons of plastic, cardboard, and other materials, the company also worked with their supplier to redesign cases to have an interlocking flap design, reducing $400,000 in plastic purchases per year. They also redesigned their perfume reblending process to use significantly less water.
Recycle Services (Lucas County, E3 Silver) specializes in glass recycling. Last year, they recycled over 100 million pounds of glass and 120,000 pounds of metal. They also modified their facility for oversized glass debris to run back through their crusher, reducing the amount of glass landfilled by 10,000 tons per year.
Whirlpool - Findlay (Hancock County, E3 Silver) created a matrix tool to help identify top suppliers and parts based on environmental, logistical, and customer service criteria. They worked with vendors who scored low using this matrix and developed a returnable packaging program. This program has allowed for the diversion of 35,000 pounds of waste from the landfill. They also found ways to combine shipping routes, reducing CO2 emissions by 128 metric tons.
Whirlpool - Ottawa (Putnam County, E3 Achievement) operations have a cardboard recycling program, recycling around 445 tons of cardboard in 2022. They also have a 95% landfill diversion rate.
More details about this year’s awardees’ accomplishments, and additional information about the program are available on Ohio EPA’s Encouraging Environmental Excellence webpage.
