Kent winners honored as Best Workplaces for Waste Prevention and Recycling

For the Reporter

King County’s Solid Waste Division is honoring 112 area businesses, including several from Kent, that made its eighth annual list of Best Workplace for Waste Prevention and Recycling, the highest number listed since the program began in 2007.

“These companies deserve special recognition for demonstrating their ingenuity and commitment in preventing waste,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “From composting in lunchrooms to reusing packing materials, they’re showing that sustainability can be simple and rewarding.”

The Best Workplaces list has been celebrating waste prevention and recycling in local businesses for nine years and features a wide array of businesses in King County, including hospitality, medical services, professional services, technology, retail, finance, government, arts and entertainment and others.

For a full list of winners, visit online.

Kent winners in respective categories included:

Engineering/Manufacturing

Hexcel Corporation
Website: www.hexcel.com

Hexcel Corporation is proud to be named to the Best Workplaces for Waste Prevention and Recycling list for its third year. Hexcel manufactures and tests lightweight, high-performance components used in commercial and military aircraft, and has a location in Kent. The Hexcel Kent facility has sustained waste reduction, material reuse and recycling initiatives as part of site operations and processes. They recycle approximately 80 percent of solid waste by volume and send 75 percent of hazardous waste to “waste to energy” reuse programs. They manage a just-in-time inventory system to prevent waste and donate usable surplus material to community college training programs. Hexcel partners with customers to ship products with little to no packaging and purchase office supplies such as paper and printer cartridges made from recycled material.

Net IG
Website: www.net-ig.com

Net IG joins the Best Workplaces for Waste Prevention and Recycling in King County list this year. The Kent-based company designs and manufactures cable infrastructure. Net IG promotes waste reduction through a zero-new-packaging production line and reuses all received packaging materials. Their aggressive environmental policy includes eliminating non-reusable bottles and paper cups from the office; recycling wooden pallets, batteries and scrap metals; and encouraging employees to bring electronics from home for recycling.

Advice for others: “Check all of your resources and waste management programs in the area to see what they have to offer. Resources you already use often have programs and tools to help your company reduce waste and recycle more.”

Special recognition: Denver Kerby, for going above and beyond by researching and implementing the majority of green initiatives as a part of Net IG’s Green Team.

Government/Utilities

City of Kent
Website: www.kentwa.gov

The city of Kent lands on the Honor Roll of King County’s Best Workplaces for Waste Prevention and Recycling list, continuing to lead by example for its citizens. The city of Kent has been recycling toner cartridges for a number of years, and has recently added foam plastic to the list of recycled materials. The facilities maintenance crew purchases only green cleaning products. They host three recycling events per year for city of Kent residents where they also accept items that are difficult or costly to recycle. They also promote recycling in their e-newsletter and through social media, and new employees receive information about recycling and food waste diversion in their new-hire packets to ensure participation.

Advice to others: “We have an in-house Eco-Hero Award which we give out when the committee, which is made up of previous award recipients, sees a fellow employee doing some exceptional activity deserving recognition.”

Other

Styro Recycle LLC
Website: www.styrorecycle.com

Styro Recycle LLC is a collector and processor of Styrofoam located in Kent. The company makes its debut on the list of Best Workplaces for Waste Prevention and Recycling in King County this year. The company collects Expanded Polystyrene (EPS, commonly known as Styrofoam) to be reused in recycled plastic products. They have a pick-up service for local businesses and a residential and business drop site where they collect Styrofoam, polyethylene foam and cardboard. In 2014, Styro Recycle recycled approximately 300 tons of EPS as well as 169 tons of polyethylene film and foam. This helps companies and residents reduce their garbage bills while diverting material from the landfill.

Advice for others: “Sorting is key! Sorting and separating your clean and dry EPS and polyethylene foam before recycling it at our drop-off center helps reduce the cost of the process. Continue to search for better ways to reduce waste in addition to recycling. These products fill your Dumpsters and trash receptacles, and do not break down in the landfill.”

Professional Services

Ingenium Group, LLC
Website: www.pureingenium.com

Ingenium Group, LLC is a waste disposer and recycler with services that include transportation, recycling, and repurposing of hazardous, biological, and radiological materials. This year, their Kent office returns to be listed as a Best Workplace for Waste Prevention and Recycling for the fourth year in a row. Ingenium helps companies reduce costs by streamlining their processes and minimizing their waste volumes through strategies such as redirecting manufacturing by-products and from the landfill to waste-to-energy programs. Their goal is to do much more than provide a disposal or even recycling services to their clients. Ingenium is committed to a partnership with clients in environmental management issues, working together to increase sustainability and reduce costs, and recapturing capital in every possible area.

Advice to others: “Ingenium is proud to be in the vanguard of regulated waste management and sustainability through innovative recycling and process collection efforts. Results such as those provided by our Emerald Energy and Orphan Chemical programs are designed to help our clients maximize their efforts while reaping the greatest possible benefit.”

Real Estate/Property Management

Cottonwood Apartments
Website: www.cottonwood.riverstoneres.com

The Cottonwood Apartments in Kent join the list of Best Workplaces for Waste Prevention and Recycling in King County. Cottonwood Apartments have had a five star rating with EnviroStars since 2010, in recognition of their exceptional hazardous waste management practices. They have continued to make every effort to reduce waste, including increasing the size of their recycling bins and reducing trash pick-ups from twice to only once each week. Cottonwood has saved several hundred dollars by using reusable coffee cups and water bottles, and cleaning with natural household items like vinegar and water instead of purchasing industrial cleaning products.

Retail

Torklift Central
Website: www.torkliftcentral.com

Torklift Central returns for their sixth year as a Best Workplace for Waste Prevention and Recycling. Torklift Central is an installation, repair and manufacturing shop that specializes in custom trailer hitches and related RV towing equipment. Located in Kent, they have been in the towing and RV business since 1976. Excess materials that are generated during the production process such as copper, wire and steel, are all recycled in separate bins. This year, they began to use and recycle aluminum materials. Each year, Torklift Central receives over $2,000 for their recycled materials.

Advice to others: “Doing everything digitally helps reduce the amount of paper and ink used on a day-to-day basis.”

Special recognition: The accounting and purchasing department has reduced waste by switching to digital invoices, proofs and forms.

Fred Meyer-Redondo #215
Website: services.fredmeyer.com

Fred Meyer in Kent returns for its second year as a Best Workplace for Waste Prevention and Recycling. Fred Meyer is a retail business that takes recycling seriously. They teach all employees to separate paper, plastic and biodegradables, and all employees over 18 are trained to operate the store’s cardboard and garbage balers. This year, Fred Meyer began to regularly bring in a scrap metal bin for all used fixtures, and set up organics recycling for the Garden Center. They also placed recycling containers at all work stations throughout the store. In addition to recycling and composting, they have a donation program in place that includes furniture, clothing, household and seasonal items, as well as daily food bank pickups.

Advice to others: “Educate! Educate! Educate! All it takes is one faithful person to make a difference. The world is growing at such an enormous rate; everyone needs to do their part to have a green environment not only for themselves, but for the world and the future of our children.”

Special recognition: Debbie Aragon and Nina Harris, recycling champions

Technology

Applus Technologies, Inc.
Website: www.applustech.com

Applus Technolgies returns for their seventh year as a Best Workplace for Waste Prevention and Recycling, reclaiming their spot on the Honor Roll. The technology services and electronic solutions provider is headquartered regionally in Kent and has 16 worksites in King County. By increasing the amount of compostable and recyclable materials purchased, Applus emission testing stations have reduced waste to one container, and in some cases eliminated regular waste containers all together. All locations now use 100 percent sugar, wheat and/or straw paper for ecologically responsible printing. After purchasing a green printer made from recycled products for all locations last year, they invested in an environmentally friendly ColorQube technology for their copiers that uses wax instead of toner. Applus has committed to a minimum of 50 percent recycled content for products whenever possible. They also encourage sustainable practices by employees, through education and providing resources like reusable water bottles.

Advice to others: “Applus believes its leadership role as the vehicle emissions testing provider for communities across the U.S. should extend beyond contractual obligations to include proactive initiatives that positively impact our local communities. To this end, we sponsor charitable and environmentally focused events as well as industry and academic conferences on technologies and issues that impact air quality.”

Special recognition goes to: Kristine Schmidt, who heads the Applus recycling initiatives and the annual Applus Earth Day fundraiser, which raises money for the Arbor Day Foundation. Applus Technologies also thanks their emissions station recycling representatives: Diannia Anderson, James Nason, Sean Lewis, Christopher Brester, Roman Nedashkovskiy, Karen Yeager, Cristy Adams, Alan Hunter, Brady Busch, Dorren Churchill, John Naidas, Janene Laskowski, Pam Clark, Lori Pope, and William McKeever.