CASE STUDY NO. 9702
KEY WORDS PALLETS, REUSE; DRUMS/PAILS, REUSE; RETURNABLE CONTAINERS
United Technologies (UT) Carrier
7310 W. Morris St.
P.O. Box 70
Indianapolis, IN 46206
Contact Troy Rector, Manager, EHS. Tel: 317-240-5174. Fax: 317-240-2511.
Summary
A comprehensive program to convert from single-use containers to reusable-returnable containers; specification of a standard pallet size; and other steps to prevent waste have reduced landfilling and other costs significantly.
Action
UT Carrier is a major manufacturer of a variety of residential and commercial heating and air conditioning equipment. Carrier became fully aware of its potential for waste reduction after being introduced to the U.S. EPA "WasteWi$e" program through the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. The procedures recommended in EPA's "A Business Guide for Reducing Solid Waste" set in motion an overall management approach to waste prevention at UT Carrier.
One of the first initiatives was for the Purchasing Department to ask all suppliers, except those delivering steel coils, to convert to the use of standard GMA pallets. In 1995, this change made it possible to reuse 375 tons of pallets, avoiding a disposal cost of about $25,000. The company also worked with its insulation supplier (used in gas furnace and electric fan coil assemblies) to switch from delivery in nonreturnable cardboard boxes to wheeled steel carts, which are reusable indefinitely and move in a closed loop between supplier and buyer. The associated cost savings were not available.
Drums used for delivery of lubricant had previously been sent to a reconditioner at a cost of $10 each. But UT Carrier found that its oil supplier would take the drums for direct reuse at no charge. The saving on 120 drums a year is about $1,200. Similarly, empty 5-gallon buckets of silicone are being accepted at no cost by an outside company, reducing disposal costs about $2,000 a year for the 800-1,000 buckets used at UT Carrier.
The Purchasing Department has been gradually adding to its specifications the use of returnable/reusable containers for a wide variety of items including electrical transformers, pressure switches, gas valves, prefabricated copper parts, blower motors, inducer motors, screws and fasteners, and burner systems. As selected parts have been successfully converted, increasing numbers of parts have been added to the system.
The largest reduction in materials use concerns corrugated cartons. By switching from full enclosures to simple top and bottom caps with stretch film around the middle, the company reports it has reduced purchase of cardboard by 2,100 tons, cutting costs by about $1 million.
Payback
The company has not calculated a payback period for these various waste prevention initiatives. However, since none required any capital outlay but only procedural and purchasing changes, the cost savings are believed to have accrued at once.
Additional benefits
