Green means GO(LD)
9.14.09
To: Our customers, the Building Material Professionals, who make this industry work. And all the rest who enjoy reading 'The Southern Blog':
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Shortly after Southern moved to its new Berkeley Avenue facility in Kinston, NC in 2002, we noticed we had a problem.
At our old facility, we were sending a 30 cubic yard container of waste materials to the landfill every week. Due to increased volume at the new plant, the waste stream grew to two to three 40 cubic yard containers to the dump every week. The waste stream was not environmentally conscious. It was costing our company thousands of dollars to practice business this way.
Southern's team took on an important Lean Manufacturing assignment: get rid of the need for a 40 cubic yard waste container.
And we did. With a vengence. Southern employees came up with a way to recycle PVC cutoff materials to companies who produce regrind. We got suppliers to change their packaging methods, eliminating a great deal of raw material packaging waste. Anything that could be recycled, was.
As a result, since 2003, Southern recycles nearly 100% of its waste stream.
The 40 cubic yard container has been eliminated. The space it occupied is now the receiving dock.
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Now we are billed $36.83 per month to pick up a small amount of refuse, primarily office waste. And that is the extent of today’s waste stream. What a difference.
Finally, and to the employees enjoyment, all monies received from selling recycled materials are paid to the employees every December in the form of a recycling check. The checks are frequently 4 figures per employee.
To read more about the green side of vinyl fence and rail, see the FAQ section under “What effect does vinyl have on the environment”. We will be writing more about this topic in the future.
Southern Vinyl. Setting the Standards.
Questions? Comments? e-mail Southern at svm@svmllc.com
