Success Stories

Manufacturing Materials

Business: Alcan Cable (Roseburg)

Number of Employees: 150

Vignette

• Alcan Cable works with customers to reduce the amount of packaging material required. For example, Alcan Cable no longer wraps certain products in plastic wrap prior to shipment.
• Gaylord containers and pallets are reused or sold for reuse.
• Alcan Cable recycles office paper, newsprint, and cardboard, and virtually 100% of the 2 million pounds of aluminum scrap produced each year. The company recently began recycling 26 tons per year of plastic scrap resulting from insulation coating around the cable.

Case Study

None

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Business: Cameron Graphics (Beaverton)

Number of Employees: 7

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Cameron Graphics prints materials for customers in the Portland area. Emphasizing employee training in waste prevention and efficiency measures has decreased purchasing costs five percent and increased salable product from 90-99% of the average print job.

• The amount of paper allocated to each print job was gradually reduced and employees were challenged to identify methods to maintain quality output while using less paper.
• Opportunities for waste reduction are discussed and tracked at quarterly review meetings.
• Previously discarded margin waste paper is now reused during job setup prior to recycling.
• During job setup, a density reading is used to measure the correct quantity of ink applied to the paper. Meter readings are recorded and used to efficiently duplicate job setup, saving time, paper and ink.

Case Study

• Case study exists, call Metro, 503-234-3000.

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Business: Evanite Fiber Corporation (Corvallis)

Number of Employees: 330

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Evanite Fiber Corporation has three manufacturing facilities at its Corvallis campus: hardboard (wood interior panels), glass fibers, and battery separator material.

• Faced with an air compressor system that was not performing well enough, Evanite reconfigured and repaired leaks in the compressor system. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $36,000/year in electric bills, plus an avoided capital cost of $27,000 to replace the compressor system. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 900,000 kWh/year (estimated).
• When Evanite closed one if its plants, a purchasing agent chose to list 34 items needing removal as "available" materials in the Industrial Materials Exchange (IMEX). Within two months, Evanite had found users ranging from Portland to New Jersey for 12 of these listings, including various types of plastics and organic chemicals. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: at least $3,500 in avoided disposal costs. The market value of materials reused is over $11,500.

Case Study

• Case study exists.

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Business: Fred Meyer Baking Plant (Clackamas)

Number of Employees: unknown

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• Identified and corrected water leaks and drips totaling 709,000 gallons per year. FINANCIAL SAVINGS: $3,280/year. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 1,772 therms (natural gas) and 709,000 gallons (water)/year.
• Changed the packing procedure for bear claws and other pastries. Previously, packing staff had not always had enough time to switch packaging types when production shifted from one product to another. For example, at the end of a batch of bear claws, staff would need to move the packaged bear claws out of the packing area and prepare to package the next product. Insufficient time to make the switch meant that the last products in any given batch were often trashed. By increasing the time between product lines (at the packing end) by three minutes, this problem was largely eliminated. RESOURCE SAVINGS: 12,480 pounds/year.

Case Study

None

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Business: Me and Company (Winston)

Number of Employees: 2

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Me and Company is a stained glass studio, including retail sales of stained glass supplies and space for classes and workshops.

• All scrap glass generated in the studio is saved for use in smaller projects or donated to the art teacher at Douglas High School for student projects.
• Broken window glass is accepted from the public for use in teaching students how to cut glass.
• Recovering lead from leaded stained glass projects and waste solder is a skill taught to classes.
• Polystyrene packing peanuts, office paper, and paper towels used to clean glass pieces are reused.
• Work tables are made from scrap lumber or old kitchen cabinets.
• Scrap glass bins are old kitchen cabinet drawers.
• Cardboard, yard waste, and beverage containers are also recycled.

Case Study

None

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