A recycling and waste reduction programme that developed from an employee’s question and which led to a reduction of over 90 per cent in non-hazardous waste going to landfill has won the 2007 ICI Chairman’s Leadership Award for Sustainability.
The annual award is part of a programme that recognises innovative and outstanding projects by ICI sites around the world in the areas of safety and health, environment, product stewardship, community involvement, and employee practices.
The employee’s question, put forward at the National Starch and Chemical Company’s manufacturing plant at Indianapolis in the USA, was: “Why don’t we recycle more at National Starch?”
Although a number of individual recycling initiatives were already in place at the site – the largest production facility in the ICI Group – increased environmental benefits and cost savings from a more comprehensive programme were identified. The team’s initial target was 75% recycling.
Following a pilot within part of the site, the full programme has now achieved a landfill reduction of over 90% through recovering, reusing or recycling all items within waste streams. The plant now recycles items including cardboard, paper, plastics, bulk bags, pallets, scrap wood, starch, co-products, metals, electronic equipment, cell phones, batteries, office paper, and ink cartridges.
In presenting the Chief Executive Leadership Award for Sustainability, from which the Chairman’s Award was chosen, ICI Chief Executive John McAdam congratulated the winners and said: “This is the 15th anniversary of these Leadership Awards, which started with safety and have developed to the broader sustainability agenda. There have been 57 winners from over 300 finalists, which were in turn drawn from internal business award submissions. In that time our sustainability performance has improved dramatically.”
He said the awards aimed to reinforce the importance of sustainability across the ICI Group and to encourage everyone to participate in improving performance. Each winning team received a cheque for US$2,000 to be donated to a charity of its choice, in support of community outreach programmes.
The entry from National Starch at Indianapolis, made in the environment category, was one of the five winners of the Chief Executive Leadership Award for Sustainability. Each winner was considered for the Chairman’s award.
The other winners of the ICI Chief Executive’s award were:
Safety and Health
ICI Paints, North American Supply Chain
The ‘HERO Campaign’ to minimise the use of flexible hoses across the North America has reduced injuries and associated costs and eliminated over 1.6 miles of hose since 2006.
Product Stewardship
ICI Swire Paints, Shanghai, China
ICI Swire Paints is working with top home decoration companies in China to help them improve their safety, health and environment awareness and practices - and in turn influence professional painters and consumers.
Community Involvement
ICI Paints, Cimanggis site, Indonesia
Working with the local authorities and businesses, ICI Paints employees are using a lake conservation project to help the local community understand that development can be combined with environmental protection.
Employee Practices
ICI Argentina, Wine and Performance Chemicals business
ICI Argentina is providing technical education to plant operators which improves its operating capability and results in an externally recognised Chemical Plant Operator’s degree.