Woodridge, Illinois-based trade show display and exhibit manufacturerOrbus Exhibit & Display Group announces that its recycling efforts in 2016 prevented 582 tons of material from ending up in landfills.
The company’s two manufacturing and distribution facilities, in Woodridge and Las Vegas, are certified under the ISO 14001:2004 standard, which provides guidelines to establish and maintain an environmental management system to reduce waste.
To meet that ISO standard, Orbus follows strict guidelines in its daily operations. In 2016, the company’s recycling efforts resulted in 555,000 pounds of cardboard, 80,000 pounds of aluminum, 397,500 pounds of fabric and 132,800 pounds of plastic being recycled. The company has recycling bins in employee lunch rooms, cubicles and offices, along with fabric, plastic and paper recycling programs in the warehouses, which encourages and enables employee behavior.
In addition, the company repurposes scrap wood and fabric. It donated wood to local fire departments for training efforts and to craftsmen to create furniture, and it donated three truckloads of scrap fabric to Matthew 25: Ministries. The donated fabric is used in vocational schools, organizations that encourage women to create clothing sold for income, and in community groups to create blankets, curtains and more.
Orbus’ recycling and repurposing efforts reduced the amount of waste sent to landfills from both locations by more than 9 percent over 2015 numbers.
Orbus also takes part in UPS’s Carbon Neutral Shipping program, which mitigated nearly 325 metric tons of CO2. The mitigated CO2 is turned into carbon credits by UPS, which are then donated to environmentally responsible programs such as the Garcia River Forest and the Big River and Salmon Creek forests in California. Orbus also partners with ComEd to reduce energy use, taking steps such as installing efficient lighting and water heating, and other energy management devices.
“One of Orbus’ core values is to protect and preserve the environment,” says Jim Concannon, operations manager. “We are proud to continuously improve our recycling and repurposing efforts, each year watching the amount of materials that we divert from landfills grow, and becoming a partner in environmentally responsible programs to support natural resources.”
This year the company introduced a new “waste champions” team to help reduce electrical and natural gas usage and create more efficient processes for reducing waste.