DIRECTOR'S CORNER
Recognizing environmental excellence
Virginia recently recognized industries exhibiting exceptional environmental stewardship with the Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards for Manufacturers. Virginia’s governor, secretary of natural resources and the Department of Environmental Quality have supported this effort for the last decade.
The awards ceremony provides an opportunity to show how effective business strategies and pollution prevention and reduction measures are cohesive and benefit industries and the environment.
This year more than 15 manufacturers earned the governor’s award. The companies are diverse – they range from power plants to food processors – but they share a common goal to protect the environment. Each of these companies implemented environmental enhancement programs or changed their manufacturing practices to save energy, reduce air pollution or minimize waste.
The manufacturers are judged on environmental impact, efficiency and cost effectiveness, originality, and technical value and transferability in the following categories: environmental projects, environmental programs, land management and environmental products. Judges consist of representatives from DEQ, citizen and environmental groups, academia, public and governmental groups and manufacturers. The winners are nominated by the Virginia Manufacturers Association, which facilitates the award process, and approved by the Virginia secretary of natural resources.
The award winners serve as models for how industry can employ innovative ideas that are environmentally and economically sound to protect the air, land and water of the Commonwealth. The awards ceremony was held in late September 2005 in Richmond. The bronze, silver and gold award winners include:
Environmental Projects – Large Manufacturers (More than 5,000 employees)
- Smithfield Packing Company – Smithfield Division – Bronze
Smithfield Packing organized the collection of used printer cartridges for recycling in October 2001. More than 200 boxes of spent cartridges have been recycled.
- Anheuser-Busch – Williamsburg Brewery – Silver
The brewery’s waste water task force helped reduce the amount of biological oxygen demand loadings by 17 percent, yielding a savings of more than $400,000.
- General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products – Marion Operations Plants 1 and 3 – Silver
The facility eliminated the use of methylene chloride, reducing its annual emission of the hazardous air pollutant by 13,000 pounds, and reduced overall hazardous air pollutant emissions by more than 50 percent.
- Gwaltney of Portsmouth – Silver
Using its environmental management system, the Portsmouth facility reduced electrical use by 11 percent without changing the machinery or amount of production.
- Gwaltney of Smithfield – Silver
Gwaltney of Smithfield achieved the International Organization for Standardization 14001 certification through developing and implementing an environmental management system that provides a foundation for ensuring compliance and benchmark performance.
- Smithfield Transportation Company – Silver
Smithfield Transportation has improved air emissions and fuel economy through new types of technology, training drivers to improve habits and techniques, and testing 10 auxiliary power units on tractors and single wide tires on tractor trailers.
- Honeywell Nylon - Hopewell Plant – Gold
Construction of a 23-mile gas pipeline from a landfill in Waverly to the Honeywell Nylon plant in Hopewell will contribute to a significant reduction in carbon dioxide emissions during the life of the plant. Honeywell, Enerdyne Power Systems and Waste Management worked together to build this pipeline. Landfill gas will replace about 15 percent of the natural gas used as fuel to produce ammonia at Honeywell. This project is a prime example of how the use of landfill gas can reduce pollutant emissions in communities around Virginia and improve air quality.
Environmental Programs – Small Manufacturers (Less than 5,000 employees)
- Koppers – Roanoke Valley Plant – Bronze
Koppers implemented a community awareness panel composed of local citizens. Students are invited to attend the panel’s meetings, and every year Koppers’ employees team with the students to clean up litter from the Roanoke River through Virginia’s “Adopt-a-Stream” program.
- Southeastern Public Service Authority – Refuse Derived Fuel Plant, SPSA Power Plant – Gold
The Southeastern Public Service Authority operates a solid waste management system and use more than 50 percent of the waste received for beneficial projects. The authority sells steam and electricity generated by its waste management processes to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. The use of the steam and electricity generated by the shipyard prevents at least 520 tons and 280,000 cubic feet of waste from ending up in the landfill every year.
Environmental Programs – Large Manufacturers
- Smithfield Corporation – Bronze
Smithfield developed an environmental management system for each facility, and within a year of implementation, the corporation achieved International Organization for Standardization 14001 certification. Benefits of the environmental management system includes corporate cost savings of $1 million, energy and water savings, recycling opportunities, and the development of a proactive system for reducing and/or preventing impacts to the environment.
- Canon Virginia – Silver
Canon Virginia has continually developed and improved its manufacturing processes during the past 20 years to reduce the impact of its operations on the environment and increase awareness.
- Georgia-Pacific Corporation – Big Island Operations – Silver
The Big Island Mill has implemented environmental stewardship at its facility through waste minimization, emissions reductions and community involvement. One example is that the mill produces linerboard from 100 percent recycled material.
- DuPont Company – Spruance Plant – Gold
DuPont challenged itself to improve upon the company’s environmental excellence measures and, at the same time, grow its businesses. As a result, DuPont reduced the reportable toxic releases by 95 percent since 1987 and air emissions by 78 percent while production increased by 117 percent.
- Volvo Trucks North America – New River Valley Plant –Gold
Since receiving the International Organization for Standardization 14001 certification in 2000, the plant has eliminated metals in paint, chromium in phosphate, air toxics in purge solvent; implemented water recycling for cab leak testing and an energy management program; reduced the amount of landfilled waste and emissions of volatile organic compounds; and recycled waste water for reuse in the plant.
- Micron Technology – Gold Flag
Since 2002, Micron’s facility in Manassas has reduced water use by 98 million gallons, energy use by 16 million kilowatt-hours and waste generation by 4,100 tons.
Land Management
- MeadWestvaco – Gold
MeadWestvaco donated land near Covington that contains a waterfall and 19 acres. The area will become a Virginia state park known as Falling Spring Overlook.
Environmental Products
- Siemens VDO Automotive Corporation – Fuel Components Division – Gold
The corporation has demonstrated environmental stewardship through developing environmentally conscious products and processes. The Deka VII fuel injector, for example, has 30 percent fewer moving parts, 33 percent lower weight and 53 fewer manufacturing steps; reduced material consumption b 260,000 pounds per year and waste by 65 percent; lowered energy usage by 50 percent; and reduced automobile volatile organic compound emissions by 55 percent.