Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

Contact: CoriAhna Rude-Young, 651-296-5965 Toll-free: 1-800-657-3864 Saint Paul, Minn. - The Governor's Awards for Excellence in Waste and Pollution Prevention were presented today to 18 organizations at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's (MPCA) Air, Water and Waste Environmental Conference. The annual awards program honors superior environmental achievement by Minnesota's businesses, nonprofits and private institutions. The awards were presented during a luncheon ceremony where Governor Pawlenty recognized the recipients for their outstanding environmental work. "These organizations have discovered innovative and resourceful ways to reduce waste and pollution, and have often increased efficiencies at the same time," Governor Pawlenty said. The Governor's Awards for Excellence in Waste and Pollution Prevention recognize outstanding environmental projects that fit into one of three categories: business/nonprofit, partnership, and Minnesota Government Reaching Environmental Achievements Together (MnGREAT). The business and nonprofit category recognizes businesses, private organizations, and nonprofits that have developed and implemented innovative approaches to reduce the use and release of hazardous and toxic materials at the source, or have shown excellence in solid waste reduction. The partnerships category honors superior environmental achievement by collaborations between Minnesota nonprofit organizations, businesses, public agencies, and institutions for programs or projects that benefit the environment by reducing or eliminating waste and pollution at the source. The MnGREAT category recognizes government programs or projects. Winning plans have shown achievement and leadership in the areas of pollution prevention, toxicity reduction, conservation of energy and water, recycling, and composting. Governor's Award winners - Business/Nonprofit:
Hallberg Engineering Inc.: Schools for Energy Efficiency has worked with 15 school districts throughout Minnesota in an effort to reduce energy and water use, with annual reductions of more than 245 million gallons of water, 364,000 MMbtu of energy, and 187 million pounds of CO2, for a total cost savings of nearly $7,500,000. Latuff Brothers Auto Body: The first auto body shop to install and use water-borne finishes to repair vehicles in the Midwest, allowing them to complete more vehicles per day with less waste and less energy consumption. Medtronic Inc.: Requires the integration of an environmental evaluation plan into product design, including an assessment of waste generation, air emissions, wastewater and packaging, reducing waste by more than 500,000 pounds and a savings of $2.3 million during the last two years. Northwest Airlines Inc.: Found several ways to reduce energy consumption and fuel use as well as save money. Their proactive efforts has resulted in a savings of more than 250 million gallons of jet fuel per year, the equivalent of keeping 500,000 cars off the road annually. Governor's Award winners - Partnerships:
Advanced Granulating Solutions Inc. and Minnesota Nursery and Landscaping Association: Created a unique recycling program for horticultural plastic that is economical, sustainable and replicable. Lake Superior School District and LHB Inc.: Partnered to define the program and priorities of the new grade 6 - 12 high school, including the Energy Star rating system. Their water, energy and CO2 reductions save the school district approximately $85,700 per year. Quality Bicycle Products and LHB Inc.: Collaborated to obtain Gold LEED certification for the Quality Bicycle Products facility. At this time they are the highest ranked new construction LEED building in Minnesota. Saint Paul Public Schools and Ramsey/Washington County: Implemented a modified resource management approach for integrating food waste, trash, and recycling program in 52 sites. It has saved the school district an estimated $70,000 per year in disposal costs. St. Luke's Hospital and Institute for a Sustainable Future: Created the first local, sustainable healthcare food pilot in Minnesota. The project uses education and a stepwise food procurement and food waste program to build a model of preventative health for Minnesota and the nation. MnGREAT winners:
City of Minneapolis: Implemented an innovative stormwater management program, greened the city's vehicles, implemented a LEED policy for new city buildings, banned mercury products ahead of state mandates, developed an innovative low environmental cleaning policy and reduced the city's global warming footprint. Duluth Entertainment Convention Center: Sought ways to reduce waste, improve recycling and reuse opportunities, and examine purchasing practices. At the end of 2003, 40,000 pounds of food and food-contaminated paper waste were diverted to compost and recycling efforts yielded 30 bales of cardboard and many pounds of office paper. Rice Creek Watershed District: Created an innovative, collaborative outreach program called Blue Thumb to assist municipalities in meeting individual water quality goals. MnGREAT honorable mentions:
City of Elk River: Conceived the first LEED certified library in Minnesota that embodies a high level of sustainable design and supports the city's commitment to energy efficency. The building includes recycled content building materials, local building materials, water-saving technology and energy efficiency designs that are 60 percent more efficient than standard building code. The city of Farmington: City employees assembled a volunteer committee called the Green Team to create and implement initiatives that will promote environmental awareness and responsibility such as new standards for park equipment, enhancing internal and external recycling and waste reduction efforts and energy-efficient lighting. Minnesota Army Reserve National Guard: Cleans dirty antifreeze so they would not need to purchase as large of a quantity of new antifreeze, thus recovering more than 30 percent of their antifreeze. Minnesota Army Reserve National Guard: Camp Ripley chose to recycle a large amount of mattress versus disposing of them in a landfill. Recycling the mattresses saved Camp Ripley close to $32,000. Olmsted County: Initiated partnership contracts to provide copiers at no cost to non-profit agencies when the county replaces and upgrades their copiers. The contractor refurbished and stored the copiers until they could be used. This contract serves as a great alternative to sending the copiers to a landfill. Sherburne County Solid Waste Department: adopted the Landfill Abatement Legacy Grant Program to encourage the use of post-consumer recyclable materials in municipal buildings. It is an opportunity for residents to see a portion of their garbage fees redistributed throughout the County and provides them with the opportunity to learn more about post- consumer recycled content materials.