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NPEP Success Story: Baldwin Hardware
Baldwin Hardware Recovers 1,000 Pounds of Lead and Saves $40,000 Annually
Baldwin Hardware Corporation began manufacturing in 1946 and moved to Reading Pennsylvania in 1956. Baldwin became a member of Black & Decker's family of great brands in October, 2003. The Baldwin manufacturing facility in Reading, Pennsylvania is a vertically integrated plant that manufactures ultra high quality solid brass architectural hardware for the upscale residential and commercial markets. Baldwin's processes include hot forging, machining, polishing, metal finishing, and assembly. Baldwin's customers range from specialty hardware/building supply showrooms to major home improvement retailers.
 EPA officials present an NPEP Achievement Award to Dave Hancock and Jennifer Gutekunst of Baldwin Hardware Corporation on October 25, 2005. |
Baldwin's NPEP Goal Baldwin's primary raw material is solid brass bars. This material contains small amounts of lead required for machinability and formability. All brass chips from machining, rod ends, and flash trimmings from forging are sent back to the brass mills to be reclaimed back into brass bars. This is typically between two and four million pounds of brass per year. Waste generated from belt sanding and polishing operations is characteristically hazardous for lead (D008) and managed as a hazardous waste. Baldwin formerly sent this polishing waste to a secondary lead smelter to reclaim the lead. However, this approach resulted in the much higher constituents of copper and zinc being landfilled as furnace slag. Baldwin sought to find a better recycling alternative that would recover all of the metals (not just the lead fraction) from the polishing waste. Baldwin joined NPEP in November, 2003 and set a goal to recycle 1500 pounds of lead in 2004. |
Source Reduction, Recycling, and Recovery Alternatives Considered
Baldwin had been looking for a better recycling alternative for several
years. The most recent alternative explored was to separate brass fines
generated by the wet and dry sanding processes to yield a higher concentration
of brass waste. Dry sanding operations would require the addition of high
efficiency cyclones upstream of the baghouse dust collection system. Wet
sanding waste could be segregated and accumulated at the source. This
approach would result in two separate waste streams. One waste stream
would be commingled wet and dry highly concentrated brass fines that have
commercial value (recycling potential). The second waste stream of polishing
dust would have a very low concentration of brass fines. Wet recovery
methods were also considered using digestion and subsequent recovery methods.
Hurdles Faced
Fine particles of brass dust are not readily processed in a furnace
due to their very small particle size. Consequently, brass mills were
not interested in this material even in a briquetted form. Modifying current
dust collection methods to incorporate high efficiency cyclones on every
individual piece of production sanding equipment was cost prohibitive.
Wet recovery methods as well as segregation of brass fines added additional
handling, storage, and transportation activities that were deemed to be
non-value added tasks that were cost prohibitive.
Waste Minimization Results
Baldwin Hardware Corporation ultimately found a recycling partner with
the capability of processing our entire non-segregated polishing waste
stream. The recycling alternative recovers all of the metals, including
lead, through a series of smelting processes. This method recovers approximately
35,000 pounds of copper and 21,000 pounds of zinc per year, eliminating
them from being landfilled while still recovering approximately 1,000
pounds of lead per year from the polishing waste. This change also resulted
in a cost savings of about $40,000 per year.
Lessons Learned
Baldwin had been searching for a better recycling alternative for several
years. Maintaining a long term focus when an opportunity is identified
will often result in a success even when the first several ideas don't
pan out. When approached from a business perspective, waste minimization
is both a win for the environment as well as for a company's bottom line
and ultimately the overall economy.