More and more companies are offering sustainability solutions; to compete in the marketplace, companies everywhere are going to have to assess their role moving forward or be left behind. Companies that offer real solutions and not just window-dressing will survive.
Sustainability starts with design and D2M has a system they use to choose the right materials for product development and mechanical engineering. They are geared more towards the electronic and medical markets.
Akeena Solar has residential and commercial solar panel solutions. Solar technology has advanced since the days of President Carter. They will do an audit and again, checking off "yes" in the solar box if you are doing business with the big box stores will get you on the top of their vendor list.
Lime Energy located in South Gate, California offer tools that will meet your sustainability goals by monitoring your facilities HVAC and lighting systems.
Morrison Container Handling Solutions can come in and audit your filling line and make changes that will reduce the energy used for production of your product.
Tech Container Corp located in MA makes custom engineered reusable plastic storage boxes and claims that by using these boxes as part of your business plan, helps to drive down "pollutants, solid waste and green house gases by 70%". They will audit your corrugate usage and come up with reusable box/tray solutions. The boxes can also come with RFID tags so you can track your inventory. The boxes themselves use no glue to assemble and are 100% recyclable.
UFP's Molded Fiber division is the leading manufacturer of interior packaging solutions made from 100% recycled paper. They can design and engineer a solution for your product. I happen to like this material as a substitute for styrofoam.
Occasionally, I get boxes filled with this product and I love it. Milex makes a super all natural, biodegradable 100% grain protein based loose-fill Styrofoam substitute. There are no petrochemicals or corn used in the manufacturing process so they expect the price to remain constant. They can even lease you the equipment to manufacture their product in your facility saving trucking costs.
Another company to watch is Orbis Corporation that makes plastic pallets, totes and containers. According to their literature, you will save 7000 gallons of water if you eliminate 800 corrugate boxes. Almost enough to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool. They also have a handy website with a "Green Calculator" that allows you to do quick calculations on your paper and pallet usage to calculate savings.
Here is something really unique: Green Club Inc. makes a product called Addiflex. When added to polyolefin, the additive renders the plastic biodegradable. If this interests you, check out their site.
I would like to add again that these are my own observations and I have no interest in the above companies or am being paid for my comments!!
No comments:
Post a Comment