Commitment to the Environment
in the Crane Composites, Inc. facilities...
Crane Composites (CCI) is committed to minimizing any impact on the environment by significantly reducing the amount of waste that must be land filled, controlling volatile organic compounds (VOC's) that are emitted from the manufacturing process and lowering energy consumption. We produce products that reduce weight in vehicle construction, thereby saving fuel. Products for building construction having surface characteristics with high durability, long life, and that are bacteria resistant are also manufactured.
LEED CREDIT INFORMATION
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WASTE REDUCTION AND RECYCLING
Production efficiencies and reduction in reject have reduced land fill waste by six (6) million pounds over the last two years. CCI produced 9.7 million or 36% less square feet of scrap, that would have been sent to the landfill. This substantial reduction was accomplished by narrowing the amount of edge trim inherent in the process, developing quicker changeovers between production runs, reducing reject caused by material thickness tolerance variances, and demanding consistent raw material quality from our vendors. CCI has utilized Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED) to reduce loss of yield on start-up and changeovers.
Material that does not meet first pass yield quality inspection is reworked into smaller sizes or alternate application uses.
In addition, CCI participates in DuPont® Teijin Films' program with GreenPak™ for landfill avoidance. GreenPak promotes waste prevention, recycling, composting, and the purchase and manufacture of goods that have recycled content or produce less waste. In 2007, CCI returned over 500 thousand pounds of material to the landfill avoidance program.
CONTROLLING "VOCs"
CCI manufacturing facilities utilize state of the art Regenerative Thermal Oxidizers (RTOs) to eliminate the emission of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), making all U.S. Crane Composite production facilities compliant. Thermal oxidizers destroy air toxins and VOCs that are discharged in industrial process exhausts. RTOs achieve VOC with Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) regulations destruction through the process of high temperature thermal oxidation. CCI has invested over twelve (12) million dollars to convert all of the manufacturing facilities to this process eliminating over 95% of all the pollutants over 650,000 lbs.
GENERATING HEAT REDUCES ENERGY CONSUMPTION
The RTO process which eliminates VOCs also generates energy that can be used to heat the manufacturing facilities, saving over 23,000,000 btu's each year which is a $125,000 value.
Recycled water is used to provide the manufacturing process equipment cooling. This closed loop system prevents thousands of gallons of water from going down the drain every day.
RECYCLING
Materials used in packaging CCI's finished goods are recyclable. In addition, plastic and cardboard cores are returned by customers and reused. Wood pallets are also returned and reused by CCIs' top customers in the recreational vehicle and truck body and trailer industries. Over 7,000 cardboard and plastic cores will be returned and reused annually. Over 3,200 pallets will also be returned and reused. Company wide, 25% of our cores and pallets are reused.
Recycling is prevalent in other areas of production and in the office areas as well. Rags and cleaners are reclaimed and reused on a daily basis. Office paper is recycled, printer ink and toner cartridges are returned to suppliers for refilling, and company supplied bottled water has been eliminated and replaced with water coolers.
SAFETY
CCI is committed to driving a culture that results in an accident-free workplace. The foundational elements of our
Safety-First Culture are T.O.P.S. (Together Observations Promote Safety) and 5S. T.O.P.S. is a behavioral-based safety program where 100% employee participation is the goal. 5S is an Operational Excellence tool that results in a clean,
well-organized work place. Continuous benchmarking of other well-respected organizations maintains our focus and advancement. The year over year recordable incident rate has been reduced by 70%.
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