Waste Reduction

Even before the SmartLog, Bois BSL was already maximizing raw materials use – a fundamental strategy for President and CEO Gino Ouellet for whom innovation is key in order to remain a leader in the wood processing industry.

In fact, the company had to choose between wood pellets and artificial logs. Seeing as the pellets could only be used in special stoves, the logs became a more worthwhile option.

After establishing the availability of the wood residue, Bois BSL had to compare standard elimination costs to determine whether or not it was worth diverting the waste to manufacture a new product. Then, the 1999-2000 forest crisis slowed the market and trade. In one instance, a wood panel manufacturer stopped purchasing sawdust from Bois BSL, which ended up with a surplus. Given the high cost of landfilling or burning the residue, the company decided to find it a new purpose.

Feasibility and waste composition studies were conducted, and a recovery method was developed by a Bois BSL engineer in collaboration with other partners. Pilot tests and laboratory analyses were also carried out. With positive results in hand, Bois BSL then oversaw the design of prototypes for small-scale production and applied for a patent.

Moving toward more environmentally-friendly paper use takes place on a number of levels; it requires the participation of all employees as well as greater involvement on the part of a select few.
First, it is important to choose the type of paper that best meets the criteria set out in an eco-responsible purchasing policy. The Caisse d’économie solidaire has chosen to use Cascades Enviro 100 paper, made of 100% recycled fibres, for both its internal and external communications. To ensure that its purchasing policy is as consistent as possible, the Caisse has asked its printers to use the same type of paper.
With regard to internal communications, the Caisse has purchased new equipment designed to cut down on non-recyclable waste. The credit union now has a number of “three-in-one” machines manufactured by Xerox that serve as fax machine, photocopier and printer. Containing parts that can later be recycled, the machines use solvent-free ink sticks – an important feature, since solid ink generates less waste – and print only “failed” fax transmissions. As well, the Caisse’s computers have been programmed to enable double-sided printing on special new printers. Overall, there has been a substantial improvement, given the fact that a large number of the credit union’s documents contain many pages. Lastly, a more recent effort involves taking documents in which the pages are printed on one side only and converting them into note pads.
For all of these changes to take place, credit union personnel must be trained and made aware of the necessity of cutting down on their paper consumption. Employees may readily agree that saving the planet requires effort, but putting this into practice and changing personal habits is no easy task. Key staff members have therefore been designated to ensure that new or negligent employees comply with the regulations and to resolve any technical difficulties that may arise while employees’ computers and work-stations are reconfigured. Trainers are also available to instruct personnel who may be unfamiliar with the filing systems on their computers.
Furthermore, the Caisse instructs all employees to avoid printing emails unless absolutely necessary, and there are permanent reminders encouraging them to “think green”. Any documents required for meetings are sent as Powerpoint presentations to the people concerned.
Regarding external communications, the Caisse promotes paperless communication by sending out a monthly electronic bulletin to the roughly one thousand members that have subscribed to it. In addition, the credit union plans to increase the number of subscribers to its electronic mailing list and thus reduce its paper consumption by 15%.

This initiative was implemented in the summer 2008, as the staff at Sahana began to notice the waste piling up after their demos. This practice has been very well received by the general public, and many people have commended Sahana for their contribution to environmental preservation.

The Guitang Group grouped a number of plants together to develop an industrial ecology system in Guigang city. It aims at re-using the joint products from the various production lines and reducing pollution and costs for waste disposal as a result.
The complex includes: a distillery, a paper pulp plant, a toilet paper plant, a fertilizer plant, cement works, a power station and some affiliated units.

First, sugar cane from the farms is sent to the sugar refineries to make sugar. Some waste, such as residual juices or “bagasse” (fibrous residues from sugar cane) is generated by this production. This waste is sent to the alcohol plant and paper mill, respectively, to produce alcohol and paper. Then, the waste from the alcohol plant is sent to the fertilizer plant to produce fertilizers for the farms. Finally, rubbish derived from paper manufacturing is sent to the cement kiln to produce cement.

The company works in partnership with recycling companies about waste recycling channels.
It is involved in the follow-up of contracts and quantities of waste produced on all building sites.
It implements specific actions to increase the proportion of recyclable waste.

A Scottish researcher called Oliver Peoples discovered a new bacterium at the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) .This bacterium is fed with high-sugar corn syrup and discharges polymer through the sugar it hasn’t used to reproduce itself. After 20 years of genetic studies on molecular biology, Oliver Peoples could modify the bacterium so that it converts 83% of the sugar that has been eaten into plastic.

In 1992, the inventor created a start-up company called Metabolix, to exploit the commercial potential of his discovery.
In 2004, the company was able to produce half the common plastic types from corn syrup.

The method used is energy-saving, as bioplastic is cold–produced and manufactured without pressure. The vegetable material (the corn) the bacterium is fed with uses solar energy thanks to photosynthesis, and absorbs gas carbon. Fallow lands in the United States are used.
The qualities of the product are the same as those of traditional plastic: resistance, resilience and ergonomy. The waste is completely degradable within less than a month.

Some big industrial companies got interested in this product, and Metabolix linked up with an agro-food industrialist to subsidize the construction of a first plant that is able to produce 150,000t of natural plastic a year.

Essent is involved in a fair trade channel at the request of Solidaridad and in association with brazilian coffee producers from Minas Gerais, and uses the waste from their harvests as a fuel.

In February 2008, 5,000tons pellets (dried and crushed coffee beans) are bought from producers and used in the dutch power plant, without changing anything of the boiler. 20,000tons are planned to be delivered. The coffee beans ship to the Netherlands.
Coffee beans are waste from the harvests. They can be used locally as low-quality fertilizers or as a fuel, but most of the time, they are not. Thus, the very fact of selling them to generate electricity does not put food production in the shade. Brazil could supply between 200,000 and 250,000tons coffee beans a year.

Besides, coffee beans providers work respecting man and environment. All of them have got the Utz standard or/and are Rainforest Alliance labelled. Thanks to the sale of the coffee beans, they get an additional income of 7% on the coffee harvest. They are thus offered the opportunity to become co-owners of a company created specifically for the export of coffee beans.

Delay private hospital got Iso 14001 environmental certification in 2007, after Champeau private hospital got it in 2001, and with the support of the C2DS committee (200 members). This committee makes a list of best practices and analysis softwares for sustainable development available to health centres.
Some actions have been implemented in Delay private hospital:
- taps are equipped with water savers
- the 60 000 dialysis lines that are used every year do not contain phthalates any more (these are harmful products that have been prohibited in the manufacture of playthings).
- the pockets of tincture extracts are delivered by 6 and not by 2 any more ;
- the light bulbs have the NF-environment eco-label, and the suppliers and providers must sign an environmental code.
- people can choose between organic menus
- the future buildings will be HEQ-certified.

The water from the dialysis (15m3 a day) is too mineralized to be drunk and is thus re-used for watering and steam cleaning. It is more efficient and healthier than chemical detergents.
The private hospital has implemented 12 waste separation channels and this does not increase the workload of the employees.

The company offers a full range of products:

- The vending machine itself

- The products the machine sells (drinks, snacks)

Caron decided to market « smart » vending machines with:
- a programming system for automatic standby mode
- a cup detector so that people can use a mug, a cup or a paper or plastic cup they have already used before.

Caron also offers garbage bins for waste separation with a specific compartment for plastic or paper cups.

The company sells, among other products:

- Two « grand crus » coffees it buys and roasts itself

- Cakes and cookies from organic farming

Caron organizes with its client companies some expositions, specific workshops and breakfast events to make the customers aware of the stakes.