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Spring 2005


Articles

  • New Technologies Reflect Success
  • Camp Dodge Recognized for Environmental Excellence
  • EMS: A Comprehensive Tool for Small Business
  • Free Hazardous Waste Awareness Workshop
  • Iowa Waste Exchange News

New Technologies Reflect Success
By Kaylene Reilly
Iowa Waste Reduction Center

The Spray Technique Analysis and Research for Defense (STAR4D®) program at the IWRC has been established to improve the technique of spray technicians at military bases throughout the country. The primary goal of the STAR4D® program is to identify the concerns of the military refinishing industry and train spray technicians to practice strategies and techniques and employ technologies that will enable them to use less material and improve finish quality.

The most recent program advancement for the STAR4D® program is the use of a computer-integrated virtual reality painting system. Virtual reality training implements the use of computer software and hardware to simulate real-life situations.

STAR4D®'s primary objective for integrating virtual reality technology into the training program is to allow spray technicians a means to practice proper spray techniques repeatedly before spraying actual coatings without generating any hazardous wastes or emissions. The use of this technology decreases the cost of training, quantity of material consumed and the amount of VOCs released into the atmosphere. One significant limitation of traditional hands-on painter training is the amount of time it takes to train larger classes. Virtual reality can increase training capacity by reducing the unavoidable time constraints involved in the traditional training process.

The virtual reality hardware includes a real hand-held spray gun, motion-tracking device, a rear-projected display and a head-mounted display. The hardware and software interact through a central computer system to simulate actual spray painting. When the spray gun is triggered, the tracking system detects the positioning of the spray gun and projects virtual paint onto a virtual object appearing on the display.

The two different displays within this system allow the painter to focus on particular skills. The rear-projected display shows a flat object projected on to a screen, which enables the technician to practice painting the virtual part using proper spray techniques with a laser-guided painting tool. With the head-mounted display, the painter can see and interact with objects in a virtual spray booth, allowing for more freedom of gun movement and control of paint application onto the virtual object.

The IWRC is always researching further efforts to improve development and analysis components in the training process. The new virtual reality equipment can provide greater flexibility in training, reduce material consumption, eliminate waste and emissions and provide instant feedback to measure the user's performance. The capabilities of virtual reality significantly enhance the quality and efficiency the STAR4D® training program.

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Camp Dodge Recognized for Environmental Excellence
By Kaylene Reilly
Iowa Waste Reduction Center

The Combined Support Maintenance Shop at Camp Dodge in Johnston, Iowa has recently taken initiatives above and beyond that of most National Guard bases in practicing pollution prevention and waste reduction at their facility. As a result of their efforts, Camp Dodge has received the 2005 Governor's Iowa Environmental Excellence Award, recognizing their leadership and innovation in helping to manage our state's natural resources.

The Iowa National Guard Combined Support Maintenance Shop (CSMS) located at Camp Dodge in Johnston, Iowa supports 102 Army National Guard units by providing major equipment repair and maintenance functions, including engine overhauls, instrument repairs, fabrication, painting, etc. The CSMS has recently taken great strides to implement sound environmental practices in its everyday operations. These initiatives go above and beyond that of most National Guard bases to ensure correct environmental techniques are used and the resulting benefits are realized. With the help of the Spray Technique Analysis and Research for Defense (STAR4D®) program at the Iowa Waste Reduction Center (IWRC), CSMS has introduced new spray painting technologies, equipment and techniques at its Camp Dodge facility. These innovative changes have led to reduced material consumption/waste generation/air emissions, improved product quality and higher production rates.

As a result of the innovative efforts put forth by CSMS, many environmental and economic results have been realized and will be maintained indefinitely. Increased efficiency, decreased material usage and reduced waste generation have all contributed to considerable cost savings at the facility. The environmental initiatives have led to a waste reduction of nearly 33,000 pounds per year and an overall cost savings of almost $130,000 annually. The overall result is a cleaner, safer, more efficient facility, serving as a model for other military bases.

The Environmental Excellence Award is the premier environmental honor in Iowa. It is designed to recognize Iowa organizations, businesses and individuals that have demonstrated exceptional commitment to the protection and enhancement of our natural resources. Recipients for this award are selected based upon leadership and innovative practices that have been implemented to sustain environmental results, leading to significant pollution prevention and economic savings. Participation and benefits realized by employees and the community surrounding the organization, as well as the ability for environmental techniques to be transferred to other organizations, are also considered in selecting award recipients.

The Environmental Excellence Awards are coordinated by the Governor's Office, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, the Iowa Department of Economic Development, the Iowa Department of Education and UNI's Iowa Waste Reduction Center.

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EMS: A Comprehensive Environmental Tool for Small Businesses

The IWRC recently completed a year-long Environmental Management System (EMS) implementation Workshop in the Kansas City area. Working with partners from Missouri, Kansas and USEPA Region 7, the IWRC modified its EMS implementation program to meet quarterly in Kansas City, Missouri. The partners included Missouri Department of Natural Resources Technical Assistance Program, Kansas State Pollution Prevention Institute and Bridging the Gap.

An Environmental Management System (EMS) is a vital tool that can provide any business with an effective method to manage all of its environmental activities. An EMS provides a systematic approach to plan, control, measure and improve an organization's environmental performance. With a system centered around a continuous plan/do/check/act improvement cycle, the EMS is a dynamic system that is able to modify itself to a company's needs.

Twenty-seven participants representing eighteen organizations began the EMS process in June of 2004. The three partners recruited companies, and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources hosted the workshop at the Discovery Center. The event was designed to break the implementation process into manageable sections providing information, examples and guidance. Homework was assigned to motivate the partners to complete the steps necessary to implement an EMS and to offer the opportunity to have a third party review the elements as they were created.

The workshops also provided an opportunity for the partners to observe incremental training and learn more about implementing an EMS. Six observers from the partner organizations also attended the workshops.

The reasons for participating in the workshop were as varied as the types of industries. The participants came with different levels of experience, knowledge and authority to implement. Six of the eighteen participants were governmental agencies. Because governmental agencies have different levels of accountability and are dynamic organizations, within the time span of the workshop, two of the agencies reorganized, reducing the number of departments and employees being addressed by the EMS. One governmental agency never had the authority to implement, but attended with the intent to create a prototype EMS to better understand and demonstrate its usefulness.

EMS implementation takes commitment from all levels of the organization as well as the resources to make it successful. The homework from the first workshop required the participants to write an environmental policy and identify the environmental impacts that result from their organizations' activities, products and services. The activity in this early phase is what weeds out the organizations that want an EMS to improve their environmental stewardship and those who want to explore its uses in their facility a bit more. It is a useful exercise for both types. This is the most time intensive phase of EMS development and it provides the opportunity to involve employees from all aspects of an organization’s operations. At this point, some of the participants realized they did not have the level of commitment necessary to successfully complete EMS implementation. This happened because either the environmental manager already wore too many hats or because they simply did not have commitment of needed resources.

By the third workshop, the number of participants was reduced to sixteen participants representing eight organizations. These eight organizations completed the workshop and realized their goals. One participant completed an EMS but did not intend to pursue third party certification, a second participant had created a system to apply to its organization's many satellite operations. Two participants had effective environmental systems already, and were investigating how to improve them or meet the ISO 14001 standard.

The IWRC has found that the most effective way to assist small businesses in implementation of an EMS is through the one-on-one method our successful On-Site Review program demonstrates. Iowa businesses interested in learning more about EMS can visit our website at http://www.iwrc.org/programs/ems.cfm or contact the IWRC at 800-422-3109.

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Free Hazardous Waste Awareness Workshop

Would you feel prepared if an EPA inspector walked through your door next week?

Many companies feel confident they are in compliance with hazardous waste rules and their compliance status until an inspector visits and identifies violations of these regulations. Very few companies intentionally violate environmental rules; many put a lot of effort and pride into their reputation and environmental status. Hazardous waste regulations can be complicated and confusing for small businesses to interpret, so they oftentimes simply do not realize they were not in compliance.

It is the goal of the Iowa Waste Reduction Center (IWRC) at the University of Northern Iowa and EPA to ensure Iowa businesses are informed of hazardous waste rules and revisions made to them. Representatives have offered to share their knowledge of common violations identified during hazardous waste inspections in a comfortable and relaxed setting. The goal of this workshop is to provide you with knowledge to assist you in identifying and correcting violations that may currently exist at your facility, before the inspector shows up at your doorstep.

This Compliance Assistance Workshop to prepare businesses for a RCRA Hazardous Waste Inspection will take place on May 19, 2005 from 10 am to 3 pm at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The workshop is free and lunch will be provided. The IWRC and DNR will be presenting the pollution prevention aspects of the workshop, while EPA will cover information on compliance and inspection.

In addition to this workshop, the IWRC provides free, confidential and non-regulatory environmental assistance to Iowa small businesses with 200 employees or less. The IWRC is often first to hear about any new regulations being enforced by the local or national government. The IWRC On-Site Review (OSR) program offers site-specific waste reduction and pollution prevention assistance at the request of a business. During an OSR, the IWRC representative will tour the facility, evaluating current pollution prevention and regulatory compliance practices. After the visit, a report is sent to the business recommending ways to reduce wastes, correct problems and cut disposal costs for the client.

The Compliance Assistance Workshop and OSR program are easy and non-threatening ways for small businesses to ensure their compliance status. The workshop is sponsored by the Iowa Strategic Goals Program in partnership with EPA Region 7, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the Iowa Waste Reduction Center and the City of Cedar Rapids.

To register for this workshop, please call 319-295-5759 as soon as possible. Space will fill up quickly, so register immediately! If you would like additional information about the workshop or would like to have a waste reduction specialist visit your facility, please call the IWRC at 800-422-3109. For more information about the IWRC, please visit www.iwrc.org

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Iowa Waste Exchange News

IWE Gives Drums New Life
By Rick Meyers
IWE Resource Specialist, Linn County

Rick Myers
Rick Myers

The Iowa Waste Exchange (IWE) helps us better utilize our resources by facilitating the collection and reuse of products and materials that otherwise might be discarded with their remaining value wasted. The IWE creates links between companies to meet their respective disposal and procurement needs while benefiting the environment through conservation of resources. Below are two recent examples of how IWE Resource Specialist Rick Meyers worked with companies to facilitate the reuse of fiber, metal and plastic drums.

JRS Pharma is an international corporation that produces tablet and capsule ingredients used to formulate and manufacture pharmaceutical and nutritional products. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa plant produces microcrystalline cellulose, an inactive ingredient that allows processing of drugs into an easily ingested stable form, a tablet.

On a routine site visit to assess opportunities for reducing the company’s waste, Meyers learned that JRS Pharma intended to throw out 130 fiber drums in the next few days. These drums were in excellent condition, clean inside and had the labels peeled off. JRS Pharma could not reuse them due to the heavily regulated nature of the pharmaceutical industry. Meyers promised that he would find someone to pick the drums up for reuse if the company would hold on to them.

By the next day, Meyers had located a company that would come and pick up the drums at no charge. Mendenhall Oil Company of Burlington, Iowa promptly picked up the drums and saved JRS Pharma from sending them to the landfill. Due to Meyers alerting the company of the opportunity, JRS Pharma will now keep about 500 drums or 6,000 pounds out of the landfill over the course of the year. These drums will go to good use.

Raining Rose is a company in Cedar Rapids that manufactures lip balm, soap and other natural body care products. Raining Rose had been accumulating some empty 55-gallon drums that had contained all natural, non-hazardous products such as soybean oil, hempseed oil, olive oil, almond oil, and essential oils. The company had more than 20 drums on hand with little room for storage, and could not find anyone to take them.

After contacting the Iowa Waste Exchange, Meyers quickly located a company that would pick up all of their drums, both the metal and the plastic, at no charge. Quad City Drum Recycling was able to service them from their existing route that comes through Cedar Rapids. Quad City Drum reconditions drums and sells them for reuse. Raining Rose will now have a permanent outlet for their approximately 80 drums per year, thus saving well over 2,000 pounds of drums from going to the landfill each year.

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Recycling is Good Business
By Dennis Hayworth
IWE Resource Specialist, Area E

Rick Myers
Dennis Hayworth

Steve Gibbons from RushGideon, a company that sells merchandise via the Internet, called with a problem; merchandise shipments were creating an excess of cardboard boxes. He was also looking for packing materials that might be available for outbound shipments. Dennis Hayworth, Iowa Waste Exchange Area Resource Specialist at DMACC, visited their site and estimated that they were generating about 2,000 pounds per week.

Dennis had recently worked on a SWAP grant application with a new company named Corrugated Solutions; they provide re-used cardboard as a packing material called Corru-Fill to various companies.

After a referral by Dennis and some discussion by both companies, it was decided that Corrugated Solutions would pick up the excess cardboard for their feedstock and RushGideon also agreed to use their packaging material Corru-Fill. RushGideon estimated they would save over $1,600 per year in disposal costs. More than 52 tons of cardboard will be turned into a reusable product.

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There's Always Room for Recycling, Too!
By Shelly Codner
IWE Resource Specialist, Area C

Rick Myers
Shelly Codner

Due to their commitment to reducing, reusing, recycling and renewing, Kraft Foods manufacturing facility in Mason City, Iowa has recently received honorable mention for the Iowa Recycling Association's Best Business Recycling Program award. Shelly Codner, Area C Resource Specialist, who performed an initial site visit in October 2003 states, "This honerable mention is well deserved. In the past year, I have witnessed first hand this company's commitment to reducing their environmental footprint. It is companies such as Kraft that make working with the Iowa Waste Exchange an ethically rewarding experience."

This location makes JELL-O ready-to-eat refrigerated snacks (pudding, gelatin, smoothies and cheesecake), KRAFT HANDI-SNACKS pudding and refrigerated snacks for use in OSCAR MAYER LUNCHABLES. Under the direction of team leader Jim Wernet, this plant has an active recycling team that continually seeks opportunities to eliminate waste, recycle and use more recycled materials. These efforts include working in conjunction with non-profit waste reduction and diversion programs, including the Iowa Waste Exchange Program.

Through their efforts this year, the team has re-used 200 tons of corrugated boxes and recycled another 425 tons of corrugated cardboard, recycled seven tons of office waste and, with a recycler suggested by the Iowa Waste Exchange, redirected a net total of 6,400 tons of line scrap to be used annually as cattle feed, resulting in a reduction of water usage by 500,000 gallons. The team has also recycled 2,000 pounds of electronic waste. "Thanks to the professional and friendly service provided by the Iowa Waste Exchange, we were able to find a cost effective solution for disposing of our obsolete electronic equipment," states Kent Pearson, IT manager.

Sockcessful Recycling
By Shelly Codner
IWE Resource Specialist, Area C

In December 2004, Shelly Codner, Iowa Waste Exchange (IWE) Resource Specialist for Area C, contacted Adlib Promotions, a division of Mach III, Inc. in Mason City, Iowa. She examined the available materials, which included cotton belt material, elastic, reflective armbands, headbands and wrist bands. Before leaving the site, she called two possible markets, matching some of the materials the very same day.

Codner contacted Mike Hall, Recycling Program Coordinator for Opportunity Village, a private, non-profit, charitable organization dedicated to serving people who are mentally challenged or disabled. Hall confirmed that they would gladly accept the cotton belt material for use in their onsite sewing shop. Codner loaded up the materials and delivered them a few miles west to Opportunity Village's Clear Lake, Iowa location.

Codner also contacted Kathy Ridnour of the Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) regarding the reflective materials. Ridnour agreed to take some of the reflective materials for use in upcoming bicycle safety education programs. Codner delivered these items to IDOT's District II Office in Mason City for transport to Ridnour, located at IDOT's Ames office.

In addition, Brandi Walker, Co-Coordinator for the Des Moines Safe Kids Coalition, is eager to receive the remaining reflective materials for use in upcoming educational initiatives. Codner and Walker are currently working on logistical details.

While picking up the materials for IDOT, she was informed by Jeff Dietz of Mach III that they had 250 Lambchop sock puppets available (The Lambchop that never ends), which could not be sold due to a slight and unnoticeable error on Lambchop's tee shirt logo. Matching this popular children's puppet to available markets was a complete sockcess! The cities of Allison and New Hartford used some of the puppets as a special gift to children when Santa Claus came to town. Mercy Hospital's Pediatric Unit located in Mason City, Iowa will be handing out Lambchop to some of their pre-teen patients, and Butler County Public Health in Allison, Iowa will present Lambchop to children who have braved their immunizations at their periodic shot clinics.

Results of all these matches are as follows:

  • Landfill Diversion - 2,236 lbs
  • Disposal Savings - $90.00
  • Smiles from children receiving Lambchop and bicycle safety equipment - PRICELESS.

The Iowa Waste Exchange is a cooperative effort of Recycle Iowa/ Iowa Department of Economic Development, the Iowa Waste Reduction Center, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Community Colleges, Local Councils of Government and Iowa Solid Waste Agencies. The Exchange will not determine what may constitute a hazardous substance or create a hazardous situation. The Exchange will not make judgements with respect to any legal requirements, particularly for the storage, transportation, treatment or disposal of what may be defined as hazardous substances. For information about hazardous waste reduction and/or proper disposal, call the Department of Natural Resources Energy and Waste Management Bureau at (800) 367-1025 or the IWRC at (800) 422-3109.

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© Copyright 2007 Iowa Waste Reduction Center
A Service of Business and Community Services at the
University of Northern Iowa
Suite 113, BCS Building
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0185
phone: 319.273.8905
fax: 319.273.6582