Diamond Packaging Achieves Zero Waste to Landfill Status
Print this Article | Send to Colleague
Diamond Packaging, Rochester, N.Y., USA, reports that it has achieved zero manufacturing waste to landfill status, an important milestone towards meeting its future goal of zero waste to landfill. The recovery and recycling program is a natural evolution of the company's greenbox sustainability initiative and one, it notes, that will provide long-term environmental and economic benefits.
Zero manufacturing waste to landfill is defined by Diamond Packaging as 100% landfill waste diversion through a combination of recycling and energy recovery solutions. In Diamond's case, it accounts for all waste related to the manufacture of folding cartons, including paperboard, plastic, metal, industrial waste, and regulated waste, with the exception of construction and demolition (CD) waste.
Diamond achieved its goal through strategic partnerships with Cascades Recovery, Covanta Sustainable Solutions Group, and Advanced Waste Solutions. A collaborative task force was created to audit manufacturing and recovery methods and seek positive end-of-life scenarios (solutions) for all waste streams.
To achieve zero manufacturing waste to landfill status, Diamond's two manufacturing facilities reduced their overall waste streams and increased recycling rates to approximately 98%. All remaining waste is sent for fuels blending or to Covanta Energy for Energy-from-Waste (EfW), eliminating the need for landfill disposal. Energy-from-Waste (or waste-to-energy) facilities offer a safe, technologically advanced means of beneficially reusing Diamond Packaging waste material while also generating clean energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and supporting recycling through the recovery of metals. These alternative energy sources also reduce the need for fossil fuels.
The zero manufacturing waste to landfill initiative provides economic benefits through improved recovery and recycling rates for paperboard, plastic, and metals, and reduced overall disposal costs.
Diamond's recovery and recycling program is a natural evolution of its greenbox initiative to research, design, and implement packaging solutions that are innovative and sustainable.
