Evonik Receives Award for Waste Management
In October, Evonik’s Mobile, Alabama site took home an award from Partner in Environmental Progress (PEP) for its waste management program. Each year, PEP gives stewardship awards to local companies in the Mobile area who have made an environmental impact. Habitat sustainability and waste reduction are typical examples of award-winning projects.
Cecil Bolton (right in picture), Environmental Department Hazardous Waste Specialist, is responsible for hazardous waste management in Mobile. He has directed the two different recycling and reclamation projects which ultimately lead Evonik to winning the award from PEP.
In the first project, Evonik has been able to keep over half a million pounds of wood out of the landfill. After researching, Cecil found a local, private operation that takes, rebuilds, and resells Evonik’s old pallets of wood. The remaining scraps, along with other wood waste, are shredded and used for boiler fuel. Cecil explained that using wood for fuel is common, but it is hard to find companies who are willing to put the pallets into their grinder as the nails and other hardware dull the blades. In this project, all of this is avoided as the wood is repurposed and the hardware is removed before it hits any blades to be grinded into fuel.
The second project makes use of Evonik’s ammonium chloride, or salt, waste and turns it into an ingredient for fertilizer. A separate private operation reached out to Environmental about the salt waste that is produced from Mobile’s AMEO production unit. The salt waste was desirable due to its high nitrogen content which has made it an excellent ingredient for fertilizer. Also, the chlorides provide a trace mineral for grains. So far this year, over 400,000 pounds of this salt waste has been kept out of the landfill.
Evonik’s policy is to use energy recovery, solvent recovery, or even metals reclamation in favor of landfill or incineration. Evonik’s waste minimization plan is in constant motion, and sites like Mobile are continuously working with sustainability at the forefront of their minds. Dr. Helen Bush (left in picture), Logistics Manager Technology & Infrastructure, also sits on the PEP board and said, “I am proud of the consistent dedication the Evonik team makes to reduce waste and have a positive impact on our community and environment.”
Evonik’s award was featured locally in an article by the Alabama News center. The article can be located here.
