Awards and Recognition News Release (Region 4): Five Organizations in the Southeast Recognized as 2010 WasteWise Award Winners

 

Five Organizations in the Southeast Recognized as 2010 WasteWise Award Winners

WasteWise Partners implement strategies that reduce waste, and save them money too.

 

 

Contact: Dawn Harris-Young, (404) 562-8421, harris-young.dawn@epa.gov

 

 

(ATLANTA – Feb. 2, 2011) – Five WasteWise partners in the southeast were recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for outstanding achievements as 2010 WasteWise award winners.  Nationally, there were twenty-four winners, with awards in categories including business, government, and educational sectors.

 

The 2010 awardees are:

Better World Books, Georgia — Better World Books collects and sells new and used books online, diverting waste from landfills and donating a portion of each sale to help literacy initiatives worldwide.  In 2009, the company recycled 7,090 tons of materials, which is the carbon dioxide equivalent to removing 2,900 passenger vehicles from the road for one year.

Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp (FCCC), South Carolina — Freightliner is the nation’s largest producer of diesel-powered chassis for the RV and walk-in van industry.  FCCC’s extensive efforts have taken them from dumping 125 tons of solid waste per month in January 2008 to zero landfilling in September 2009, saving them $157,598 in 2009 alone.

Fetter Group, Kentucky – Fetter Group, a printing company out of Louisville, has implemented several waste prevention ideas, such as switching to reusable plastic shipping boxes, decreasing trim waste during its label printing process, and no longer using “proof approval stickers,” eliminating the production of more than 10,000 proof stickers per year.  In 2009, Fetter Group achieved a 93 percent diversion rate, reducing or reusing 955 tons of materials, and adding $250,000 to its bottom line.

Florida Department of Financial Services, Division of Legal Services –The Division of Legal Services provides legal counsel to Florida’s Chief Financial Officer and State Fire Marshal.  The Division has implemented several environmentally friendly practices, such as electronic filing of documents, enabling energy-save mode for electronics, reducing employee travel, freezing non-mission critical office supply ordering, encouraging double siding of draft documents, and others.  The Division’s paper reduction efforts saved Florida taxpayers more than $1 million in 2009.  Their switch to I-Serve, an electronic tool which processes lawsuits for insurers, reduced paper use by 1.5 million pages per year, and saved more than $85,000.

Georgia Environmental Protection Division, Tradeport Complex - In 2009, employees recycled 100 tons of traditional recyclables, and diverted one ton of used coffee grounds from the break room for use in home compost bins. Combined, these efforts saved taxpayers almost $6,500, and represent a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to approximately 37,000 gallons of gasoline.

WasteWise is a free, voluntary partnership program that helps businesses reduce their environmental impact and find cost savings through innovative waste reduction and recycling activities.  The program currently has over 2,700 participating partners and endorsers.

 

For more information on the WasteWise Award Winners and their accomplishments:  http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/partnerships/wastewise/events/2010awardees.htm

 

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