Seed Of Change

From the auto industry to the world of architecture, “green” is gaining momentum.

Concern for the environment has also reached fever pitch in the jan/san business — so much so, that many manufacturers are taking the ideal a step further. These innovative companies understand that what happens behind the scenes at their facilities is just as important as the end product they send to distributors.

Implementing eco-friendly procedures at manufacturing facilities is an important shift in corporate culture. For years, the focus in the jan/san industry has been on delivering green products that are safer for users and the environment. Now, manufacturers are dedicated to greening up the entire manufacturing process, from start to finish.

“There’s a big misconception about what green means,” says Mike Kapalko, Tork services manager for SCA in Neenah, Wis. “You have to be aware of the entire life cycle and what happens every single step along the way.”

It’s important to understand this new whole-picture approach. As more end users demand greener solutions, distributors can educate their buyers on how manufacturers are addressing environmental concerns in a more holistic way.

“There are products that have green in their name that are anything but green,” says Robert Allen, vice president of operations for Amano Pioneer Eclipse in Sparta, N.C. “It’s up to the purchaser to research products and processes to make sure they know what they are getting. Distributors need to help with that.”

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Making the manufacturing process more environmentally friendly is rarely an all-or-nothing proposition. Going green is an evolution that typically starts with small changes.

“We’ve done it so gradually, we’ve not felt it,” says Kyle Mackey, director of manufacturing and operations for ProTeam, Boise, Idaho. “It’s been a process over 12 years. It’s something that just takes an effort and a drive from the top to the bottom to push it to all employees.”

The most basic way jan/san manufacturers are greening their facilities is by using their own lines of eco-friendly products.

“Any of the cleaners we use are biodegradable and we don’t use a lot because we want to cut back on anything that goes into the environment,” says Mackey.

The company also uses its own line of vacuums, which feature high-efficiency filtration systems that reduce the amount of dust entering the air.

There are also many simple energy conservation measures a company can implement at little expense. Using less energy reduces greenhouse gas emissions associated with energy production. At Rubbermaid Commercial Products LLC in Winchester, Va., manufacturing plants produce no emissions that contribute to acid rain. The company also reduces gasoline consumption by converting cross-country shipments from truck to train.

Most of the manufacturers interviewed for this story have switched to compact fluorescent (CFL) light bulbs, which use about 75 percent less energy than standard incandescent bulbs. Each CFL can save $30 or more in electricity costs over its lifetime.

Also popular are programmable thermostats, which automatically adjust temperature settings to reduce usage when the facility is not in use. Likewise, motion sensors prevent lights from being left on when no one is around.

Another high-impact, low-cost initiative is recycling. Manufacturing is a messy process that inevitably creates a lot of waste. Anything a company can do to limit what they contribute to landfills is a positive step toward environmental sustainability.

“We are a very large company and we realize we could have a very large effect on the environment,” Kapalko says. “Every year, we recycle 700,000 tons of paper that would have ended up in a landfill.”

The manufacturers we interviewed recycle everything from cardboard and paper to metal and plastic. SCA ships the byproducts of its manufacturing process to a facility that burns it for energy and then uses the waste to make asphalt.

Earth Friendly Products, Winnetka, Ill., has a comprehensive recycling program that includes reusing skids and recycling the water from its manufacturing process.

Cascades Tissue Group uses fiber primarily derived from waste paper and then recycles 70 percent of its own fiber waste — saving some 30 million trees each year. And, like Earth Friendly Products, Cascades also recycles the water used at its mills, reducing its water usage to about three times below the industry average.

“All businesses need to consider the environmental impact of their operations,” says Lyle McGlothlin, director of marketing for the commercial and industrial division of Cascades Tissue Group, Waterford, N.Y. “Papermaking uses a number of resources. Reducing, reusing, or recycling these resources helps reduce the total impact of our manufacturing.”

Using recycled fiber radically changed the paper industry. Rubbermaid Commercial Products is hoping to do the same for plastics by focusing on recycled resin supply chain. Currently only about 4 percent of the polypropylene processed every year is being recycled.

“Supplies of recycled resins are rather inconsistent in quality and quantity, which makes them a very suspect and tenuous proposition for mass production systems,” says Joe DeZarn, director, marketing communications for Rubbermaid. “Yet the ultimate potential for creating products from recycled plastic is significant.”

Rubbermaid is modifying their own purchasing and manufacturing process to increase and accelerate the use of recycled resins, says DeZarn.

Other conservation measures for manufacturers include switching to battery-powered tools, using recyclable packing materials, choosing packaging and brochures printed with vegetable- or soy-based inks, and reducing the size of cartons.

Creative Strategies
Conventional approaches to sustainability aren’t enough for some manufacturers, who are coming up with more clever ideas. The most important of these strategies is to secure employee buy-in for the greening effort.

To that end, Tennant Co., Minneapolis, provided each of its 300 employees with reusable mugs. SCA gave its employees CFL bulbs and had a seminar to discuss the benefits of switching to the energy-efficient lights.

Earth Friendly Products turned a piece of its land over to a co-op organic farm where employees benefit from the bounty they grow. The company also encourages carpooling and is considering offering an incentive to employees who purchase hybrid vehicles.

Some manufacturers also reach out to make sustainability a community effort. SCA recently donated plants and trees to a nearby exercise trail. Earlier this year, JohnsonDiversey, Sturtevant, Wis., helped launch “Green Racine” — a public commitment by 30 institutions in the county to green their facilities, starting with cleaning.

“We helped them realize that green cleaning is more than products,” says Dr. Bob Israel, director of corporate product responsibility and environmental leadership for JohnsonDiversey. “It includes using the right procedures, providing the right training and including other initiatives such as recycling.”

Thinking locally also extends to how manufacturers deliver their products.

“Recycled paper isn’t nearly as environmentally friendly if you only make it in California and then have to ship it across the country,” Kapalko says. “We service the country regionally to make sure we make and ship paper within a community. From the minute we get an order until the product is used, we do what we can to lessen our impact.”

Some manufacturers are so dedicated to sustainability that they are putting lots of money where their mouth is by investing in big-ticket solutions.

For example, Cascades, SCA and Earth Friendly Products are investigating renewable energy sources, such as wind or solar, to power their plants.

“We want to take our company off the grid and generate the power we need,” says John Vlahakis, president of Earth Friendly Products. “We are looking to have zero carbon emissions, which is a pretty huge investment. But anything we can do to reduce our dependency on foreign oil is a good thing.”

Return On Investment
Going green doesn’t come free — there is a price tag associated with most campaigns. While a recycling program is relatively inexpensive (just the price of a few marked bins and, perhaps, a training session with staff), solar panels can cost several million dollars.

Eco-focused manufacturers continue to invest in sustainability because they see that these up-front costs quickly pay off.

In 2005, Tennant switched its painting process from liquid to a powder coating system that maximizes efficiency and decreases energy consumption. The change came with a $1 million price tag, but it is now creating unbelievable savings.

“We have reduced our use of hazardous raw materials by 2,200 pounds per year and our use of non-hazardous raw materials by more than 1.2 million pounds per year,” says Kathryn Lovik, director of Tennant’s human resources and corporate communications. “We have also reduced our annual water consumption by 3.7 million gallons.”

There are other cost-saving benefits of going green. For example, energy efficiency efforts typically pay for themselves in short order — Amano Pioneer Eclipse made back its investment on programmable thermostats in energy savings in just six months.

Also, when the entire manufacturing process is clean and safe, you can reduce absenteeism and improve morale, both of which increase productivity.

“I want people to understand that there’s no cost to doing this,” Allen says. “You save so much money doing it that it makes sense. And even if you just broke even it would make sense just because of corporate responsibility.”

Many savvy manufacturers see that environment and economics can go hand-in-hand. In addition to making financial sense, going green makes marketing sense.

Green manufacturers are often recognized with special awards or certifications, which they can then advertise to end users.

Several of the manufacturers interviewed for this story have received or are working on achieving the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, which recognizes companies that have proven a whole-building approach to sustainability.

“Having our facilities certified by the USGBC is important because it means we walk the talk of sustainability,” Israel says.

Green Defined
Money and pride aside, walking the talk is the real reason manufacturers of green products want to make their manufacturing processes more sustainable. They want to prove that they aren’t just making a quick buck on the green trend; they are truly committed to making the world a better and safer place.

“If we are trying to make a vacuum that’s green, we also need to do that with our manufacturing,” Mackey says. “You have to think about how you build that green-clean product and have practices that fall in line with that.”

Most importantly, a green product really isn’t green unless the manufacturer has environmentally processes in place.

“It’s like years ago when companies advertised food as low-fat even though the calories were through the roof,” Kapalko says. “We market our holistic program because there is a lot of confusion in the marketplace about what is green.”

That’s where distributors can step in. Serving as educator about the various definitions of green is a smart way to differentiate yourself from competitors who are not as in tune with the movement.

And make no bones about it — green is a movement that’s here to stay and is something that can deliver big dollars to distributors who are ready to play.

“Environmental concerns are redefining the competitive set,” McGlothlin says. “Recycled content, manufacturing processes and delivery impacts of a product are now part of the information used to select products. Distributors that can help meet these environmental goals will get the business.”

Becky Mollenkamp is a Des Moines, Iowa-based freelance writer and a frequent contributor to SM.