Sonoco recognizes Georgia recycling center
Sonoco recognizes Georgia recycling center
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Hartsville, South Carolina-based Sonoco, one of the largest diversified packaging companies, has awarded a bronze-level Sonoco Sustainability Star Award to its Sonoco Recycling facility in Savannah, Georgia, for its efforts to reduce its waste to landfill and to implement sustainability-oriented processes.
Administered by Sonoco Recycling, the Sonoco Sustainability Star Awards program comprises three tiers. Gold awards recognize facilities that have achieved 99 percent landfill diversion, silver awards honor facilities achieving 95 percent landfill diversion and bronze awards distinguish facilities that have made significant waste reduction achievements, such as drastically reducing their waste streams or implementing a new composting system.
Starting last summer, staff at the Sonoco Recycling facility in Savannah looked at its business operations, in terms of cost and sustainability. The team realized that by diverting dry waste from its normal waste streams and taking it to a waste-to-energy service provider every month, the facility could save money and lessen its environmental impact. Now, only wet or bulky waste goes in the dumpster, and all other waste is converted to energy via hauling trips that are often combined with normal hauling operations to optimize freight cost and lessen the facility’s carbon footprint, the company says.
"This process change is a first for a Sonoco Recycling location," says Mike Pope, general manager and president, Sonoco Recycling. "The plant is doing a great job capturing a large amount of waste for recovery in waste-to-energy programming, and their improvements have positive implications for both sustainability and cost savings."
Sonoco Recycling annually collects more than 3 million tons of old corrugated containers, various grades of paper, metals and plastics and provides recycling solutions to residential and commercial customers. Currently, Sonoco Recycling operates four material recovery facilities (MRFs) serving more than 125 communities in which curbside-collected residential and commercial materials are processed. The company also operates recycling programs, which identify waste reduction opportunities that reduce operating expenses for many of the largest consumer product companies in the United States.
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Source: Recycling Today
Sonoco recognizes Georgia recycling center
<![CDATA[Hartsville, South Carolina-based Sonoco, one of the largest diversified packaging companies, has awarded a bronze-level Sonoco Sustainability Star Award to its Sonoco Recycling facility in Savannah, Georgia, for its efforts to reduce its waste to landfill and to implement sustainability-oriented processes. Administered by Sonoco Recycling, the Sonoco Sustainability Star Awards program comprises three tiers. Gold awards recognize facilities that have achieved 99 percent landfill diversion, silver awards honor facilities achieving 95 percent landfill diversion and bronze awards distinguish facilities that have made significant waste reduction achievements, such as drastically reducing their waste streams or implementing a new composting system. Starting last summer, staff at the Sonoco Recycling facility in Savannah looked at its business operations, in terms of cost and sustainability. The team realized that by diverting dry waste from its normal waste streams and taking it to a waste-to-energy service provider every month, the facility could save money and lessen its environmental impact. Now, only wet or bulky waste goes in the dumpster, and all other waste is converted to energy via hauling trips that are often combined with normal hauling operations to optimize freight cost and lessen the facility’s carbon footprint, the company says. "This…