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2006 Award Winners

Show us your green side.

As Minnesota leaders, Governor’s Awards winners recognize the importance and necessity of changing the way things are done in order to protect the environment. Award winners have discovered, through persistence, ingenuity, and resourcefulness, that preventing waste and pollution makes sense. They set an example for other organizations, businesses, and agencies to follow, and their efforts benefit not only our environment, but also our state’s economy.

• Tennant Company
• Northern Engraving

  2006 Winners booklet (500Kb)

• Tastefully Simple
• Allina Medical Laboratories
• Sappi Cloquet, LLC
• The ReUse Center

Northern Engraving

Northern Engraving Corporation (Spring Grove), a major manufacturer of automotive trim and industrial decoratives, is committed to continual environmental improvement. Central to this commitment is the implementation of objectives and targets set through their Environmental Management System. Employee involvement at all levels has resulted in significant changes, including replacement of a solvent-based lubricant in its tooling operations with one that is water based, reducing volatile organic (VOC) compound emissions by nearly 5 tons in just the first year.

Employees took the initiative to build a customized, automated system to separate the aluminum and plastic in defective parts for recycling. By systematically finding and reducing waste and emissions, the company:

• uses hazardous-air-pollutant-free solvents for clean-up
• recycles solvents
• has modified equipment to reduce the amount of solvent needed
• eliminated production steps
• extensively expanded its plastic recycling program

In the first year alone, Northern Engraving has saved over $100,000. Most of the hundreds of environmental improvement projects implemented over the past five years had little upfront cost, or short payback periods. They continue to expand their environmental successes through their ISO 14001 registration.

Environmental benefits

• 80 tons of materials recycled
• use of new solvent decreased by 9,600 pounds
• hazardous waste reduced by 1,370 pounds
• hazardous air pollutants reduced by 12,000 pounds annually

Tennant Company

The vision of Tennant Company (Golden Valley), a producer of equipment to maintain indoor and outdoor surfaces, is to create a cleaner, safer world. The company has implemented numerous, diverse types of waste-reduction efforts, from a crate-less packaging system that reduces wood waste by or over 1 million pounds per year to a reduction in chemical use by more than 4,000 gallons as a result of adjustments made to washer equipment.

The company has virtually eliminated its paint-related hazardous waste by converting to a powder coating process. This extensive conversion effort—made without disrupting production—has paid off through the elimination of more than 12 tons of hazardous air pollutants. The use of low-temperature chemistries, variable-frequency drives to control motor speeds, oven-control improvements, and the repair of air-compressor leaks conserves almost 3 billion BTUs of energy annually.

A new foam-scrubbing technology called FaST, a feature in recent models of Tennant cleaning machines, uses 70 percent less water and 90 percent less detergent, while at the same time improving floor traction.

Economic and environmental benefits

Tennant saves over $1.4 million annually by conserving energy and water and reducing solid and hazardous waste:

• 2,000 pounds of hazardous raw materials
• 3 million gallons of water
• 600 tons of raw materials
• 20 tons of solid waste
• 35,000 pounds of water pollutants

Tastefully Simple

Tastefully Simple (Alexandria) is a direct-sales company that offers a wide selection of easy-to-prepare gourmet foods. The company has made the environment an integral part of daily business operations and future planning. The newly installed efficient heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system at the company headquarters conserves energy. Reminders have been placed on the copy machines to encourage employees throughout the day to copy on both sides of the paper.

The Green Team, an employee-based committee, meets regularly to plan, execute, and follow through on various reduce, reuse, recycle, and rethink projects which have resulted in a 33 to 50 percent reduction in waste. Labeled recycling receptacles, designed to integrate seamlessly into the company culture and dècor, have been placed throughout the company to inspire environmental awareness as an integral part of business operations rather than as an add-on. Electronic financial statements, conference registrations, and order forms have eliminated half-million sheets of paper, envelopes, and labels for a cost savings of $100,000 per year. Employees are encouraged to carpool, ride-share, or take the bus to company events.

Nearby Lake Bountiful and its 152-plus acres were purchased by the company specifically for preservation and conservation. The lake, which provides an area for employees to enjoy nature, will also be available to the community at some point in the future. The company has planted native seedlings on local hillsides to sustain biodiversity. Tastefully Simple, Inc. is continually assessing and addressing methods by which they can benefit the environment and hopes their approaches will lead others to go green!

Allina Medical Laboratories

Allina Medical Laboratories (Metro Hospitals) recently completed a chemical inventory that contains detailed information about the chemicals and products they use. Through a lengthy, system-wide analysis, all chemicals used in the laboratories were evaluated for health and pollution hazards. This resulted in the elimination of numerous highly toxic dyes and reagents, stains, other chemicals, and kits. Reducing hazardous waste (40,000 pounds), ethidium bromide waste (500 pounds), and water pollutants (72,000 pounds) saves over $31,000 annually.

All possible mercury has been eliminated from use, in contrast to a previous use rate of over 25 pounds per year. The laboratories are very proud to be considered "mercury free." Recycling systems for other chemicals including formalin, solvents, and alcohol have reduced the amount of these materials purchased by over 40,000 pounds and eliminated over 5,000 gallons of hazardous waste. This success resulted in a rapid payback on investment in the recycling equipment, with a savings of over $63,000 in 2005 alone. An innovative, custom-engineered sink collection system facilitates collection of waste from Wright’s and Gram stains.

Highly successful training modules have been implemented and are mandatory for all laboratory personnel, with supporting signage throughout the lab. A sincere emphasis on hazardous waste management has been established and embedded. The lab Health and Safety manager as "gatekeeper" must review and approve all materials before they can be ordered. Leadership of the Allina Medical Laboratories is committed to pollution prevention and to continually improve as stated in their Environmental Policy.

Sappi Cloquet, LLC

The Sappi Cloquet paper mill (Cloquet) produces coated fine paper and kraft pulp. In 2003, the company conducted a mill-wide energy use study using pinch technology, which identifies opportunities to optimize energy use throughout the facility. The focus of the study was to reduce steam consumption, which would directly reduce the amount of fossil fuels consumed on-site for steam generation.

As a result of the study, a series of energy and water conservation projects were implemented over the next two years. Energy use at the facility is now optimized at a "world class level of performance." In addition, use of renewable energy is now at 95 percent—possibly the highest level globally for a pulp and paper mill. Investment in installation of heat exchangers, customized steam-recovery systems, along with shutting down a natural gas boiler, generated payback in less than one year. Continued savings from optimized energy use now exceed $6 million per year.

Water use at the mill has also been optimized so that approximately 1 million gallons per day is now reused. This, along with a significant decrease in wastewater, is generating more than $200,000 in annual savings. These savings from efficient use of energy and resources continue to make a positive contribution to mill profitability.

The environmental benefits include a decrease of 65 tons of criteria air pollutants and over 50,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. To broaden the impacts, engineers at Sappi Cloquet shared what they learned from this outstanding effort with other Sappi pulp and paper mills. The pinch technology process can be used in any industry where multiple process interactions occur.

The ReUse Center

For more than ten years, the Green Institute’s ReUse Center and DeConstruction Services (Minneapolis) have championed the diversion of construction materials otherwise destined for Minnesota landfills. These organizations have given a second life to over 35,000 tons of construction materials including wood flooring, kitchen cabinets, doors, windows, sinks, tubs, and hardware, saving their customers and donors roughly $30 million in the process. Customers typically receive a 75% discount versus an equivalent new product while donors can take a tax deductions on the value of the donated materials.

With more than 60,000 customer transactions a year, these organizations are elevating the profile of material reuse, developing new customers that traditionally have not considered reuse practical. They have also developed innovative and promising channels of product distribution as well as strategic partnerships with construction industry players for accessing higher volumes and higher quality materials.

Through its hard work and accomplishments, the Green Institute has evolved from community-based organization into a regional leader in pollution prevention and sustainable development. The ReUse Center was among the first in the nation to establish an integrated deconstruction service as well as incorporate web-based marketing strategies, serving as a model across the region and nationally. Another significant contribution has been their commitment to employ from our local communities and often from disadvantaged segments.