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NPEP Success Story: American Video Glass Company
American Video Glass Company Reduces Waste Batch Disposal by 50%
American Video Glass Company (AV), a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Electronics, began operations in 1997. AV produces more than 250 tons of glass funnels and glass panels per day for cathode ray picture tube televisions. AV utilizes two glass melting tanks to produce both funnel and panel glass due to differences in glass composition. Finished goods are then transferred to several Sony CRT plants for final assembly. AV's culture is to continually pursue continuous environmental improvement.
AV's NPEP Goal
AV's goal was to reduce the amount (in pounds) of waste batch being
sent off site for treatment and disposal by 25%. When this waste reduction
activity started in 2001, AV had disposed of 94,000 pounds of waste batch.
Matt Hale, Director, EPA Office of Solid Waste (renamed Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery on January 18, 2009), and Thomas P. Dunne, Acting Adminstrator, EPA Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, present an NPEP Achievement Award to Rich Walker of American Video Glass Company on October 25, 2005.
NPEP Project Implementation
Waste batch is generated one of two ways - fill machine
repair or weigh conveyor cleaning. Because waste batch can contain
both lead and barium it was an obvious choice to establish a program
that would reduce the amount of waste batch leaving AV for treatment
and disposal. AV's initial action prior to any reduction effort was
to first identify specific activities and locations where waste batch
is produced. Once these tasks and areas were identified, the waste
batch reduction program began. Company members were trained on when waste batch could be recycled
on site or placed into a container for proper disposal. Waste batch
generated during conveyor cleaning or fill machine repairs was immediately
added to the process for reuse eliminating the need for segregation
and storage.
Hurdles Faced
By having successful waste reduction programs already in place the implementation
of another waste reduction program was rather easy. All company members
understand the cost benefit of reducing waste disposal and the long term
positive impact these types of activities can have on the environment.
Since this does not involve our customers directly, there were no customer
issues, and the financial benefit was obvious.
Waste Minimization Results
Simply changing how a person completes a task enabled AV to reduce waste
batch disposal from 94,000 pounds per year to 47,000 pounds per year by
the end of 2004.