Employees at Corning Cable Systems’ Hickory Cable Facility take recycling seriously
The facility, like many Corning locations, has long had a practice of recycling standard items like cardboard and scrap metal. But several years ago, the plant accelerated its recycling program and encouraged individual employees to submit and implement ways to improve their work -- including opportunities to eliminate or recycle waste.
Since that time, thousands of improvements have been implemented by employees who now collect, segregate and ship out more than 80 different types of materials - diverting more than 6.5 million pounds of waste from the local landfill.
Just as important as the financial benefits have been the program’s positive ripple effects on the environment. For example, during 2008 the plant recycled more than 45,000 pounds of paper – four times the amount recycled in 2004.
Energy plant creates greater efficiencies for Corning facilities
Over the past two years, Corning has been creating enough of its own energy to efficiently power at least seven buildings in and around its Houghton Park complex in Corning, N.Y. The new cogeneration (CoGen) plant uses a remarkable system of capturing and recovering heat, eliminating energy waste and paving the way for a great future in energy conservation.
Officially known as the Northside Powerhouse, Corning’s CoGen facility is an initiative within the Global Energy Management (GEM) program. The first of its kind for Corning, the CoGen plant uses natural gas to create additional sources of energy – helping Corning get the highest possible return on its natural gas investment.
While it doesn’t provide all the energy its neighboring buildings use, the CoGen station has significantly reduced Corning’s dependence on public utilities since it began steam operations and electrical generation in 2008. The GEM team will use the CoGen station’s performance over time to track annual cost- and energy-savings patterns.
Looking toward the future, Corning is evaluating a number of locations around the world to implement more CoGen plants based on the success of the first combined heating and power facility.
Eurokera North America implements award winning recycling program
Eurokera North America, a joint venture between Corning and Saint-Gobain, manufactures glass stove tops at its Greenville, S.C., facility. In 2009, the company achieved a 45 percent reduction in the amount of waste materials that required disposal off-site.
This included typical waste streams such as cardboard, scrap metal, beverage containers, and office paper, as well as non-typical waste streams such as grinding coolant, batteries, and unusable glass which is returned to the overseas supplier for re-melting.
The plant also conducted an electronic collection and recycling day for employees during April, 2009 in conjunction with Earth Day.
As a result of these successes, Eurokera received a 2009 Smart Business Recycling Award from the South Carolina Department of Health & Environmental Control (DHEC).
Electronics Recycling Event
Environmental consequences for discarded home electronics are becoming a greater issue as more consumers replace old electronics with new. That’s why Corning partners with Steuben County, N.Y., to host recycling events for community residents and company employees. Aimed at raising awareness around proper disposal of these items, the events encourage participants to drop off unwanted electronics at no charge for recycling.
During the last several years, participants helped save home computers, monitors, computer peripherals, TVs, network equipment, circuit boards, wiring and cabling supplies, copiers, typewriters, fax machines, video and stereo equipment as well as microwaves from entering the Steuben County Landfill where heavy metals from these items could enter the environment.
After the events, a licensed electronics recycler disassembles the equipment in accordance with state and county regulations for reuse which minimizes the environmental impact. The fall and spring events collected over 143,000 pounds of electronics - nearly nine times the amount collected in 2005.
