Myers Industries has a long standing respect for the environment. Today, we incorporate environmental consciousness into every aspect of our operation – from using recycled products in our lunch rooms and recycling office paper, to recycling and reprocessing plastic scrap in our factories, to taking steps to prevent water, air and land pollution by conserving energy whenever possible.
In January 2013, the Company instituted a Sustainability Committee to develop and oversee our long-term sustainable business practices. The team is responsible for establishing key metrics, goals and reporting standards across the company.
We also encourage our businesses to explore certifications. Our Ameri-Kart and Scepter Canada locations have ISO 9001 certifications and our Scepter US location is actively pursuing ISO 14001 certification.
As a result of continuous improvement efforts, Myers has identified and acted upon practices that incorporate energy efficiency, waste reduction and utilization of environmentally friendly raw materials.
Energy Efficiency
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Our asset light business model requires fewer pieces of energy dependent equipment at our facilities.
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We replace propane powered forklifts with pallet jacks and electric powered forklifts which do not need oil, spark plugs, pistons, belts, or catalytic converters and do not have a reason for an exhaust.
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As we upgrade and renovate facilities, CFL or incandescent bulbs are replaced with light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs which require much less wattage and are long lasting. We also install fans that mix the hot air at the ceiling with the cold air at the floor, creating a uniform temperature and reducing energy usage for heating by up to thirty-percent (30%). For example,
Akro-Mils completed energy efficient improvements at its Wadsworth, Ohio facility including:
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instillation of LED lighting and signage, occupancy sensors, fluorescent T5 and T8 lights and wall-packs as well as an interior lighting system with less power density than the energy code standard in its new warehouse,
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energy efficiency upgrades of injection molding machines, and
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new cooling towers with variable frequency drives (VFDs) replaced cooling tower pumps with VFDs
As a result, the company now consumes less electricity, and new molding machines have increased production speed saving approximately 2,348,550 kWh and reducing CO2 by 4,361,600 pounds annually.
Waste Reduction
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Our re-usable packaging products replace expendable packaging, preventing expendable packaging from being sent to a landfill. Some of our products have been in-use, out in the marketplace, for over twenty (20) years.
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As part of our maintenance and repair program, we re-furbish our product molds. This reduces plastic waste material called flash and the need to re-grind or handle the product during processing which, in turn, improves safety.
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Buckhorn has managed a year-over-year improvement in recycling content efforts, and Akro-Mils recycles most materials unless contaminated.
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Patch Rubber Company’s continuous improvement processes have resulted in greater first pass yield and less start-up and other scrap generation:
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The first pass yield on the mixer, which is a measure of how much of the original material added into the mixer is usable without re-work or repair has risen from 95% to 98%.
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Scrap generation on the 4-roll calender has been reduced by ~50%.
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Continuous improvement processes on the 3-roll calendar have resulted in a first pass yield increase from 60% to 95%.
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In 2017, Scepter’s Toronto facility utilized outside resources to help identify opportunities for reuse and recycling. In a one-year period, the site recycled over 695 thousand pounds of material, including plastic, paper, corrugated, wood and metal.
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Myers Tire Supply’s Distribution Center in Akron, Ohio:
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partners with FedEx who returns the pallets that are shipped from the Distribution Center each day via FedEx so they can be re-used,
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has an arrangement with a neighboring business to pick-up and re-use skids that the neighboring business would have otherwise sent to a landfill, and
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re-uses full size corrugated boxes to ship our products versus recycling or disposing of these boxes.
Environmentally Friendly Raw Materials
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We’ve worked to ensure that colorants used in our plastics manufacturing do not contain lead or other heavy metals. Today, 100% of the colorants we use are free of these materials.
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Within our Material Handling Segment, the businesses set goals and strategies to increase the amount of re-processed and re-grind resin (vs. virgin resin) used in the manufacturing of plastic products. For example,
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in 2018, Akro-Mils increased its use of regrind material by 72,000 pounds per month and is targeting increased usage annually.
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our Scepter Oklahoma location has an on-site pelletizer to re-process scrap in-house, versus re-grinding the scrap.
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Buckhorn buys/takes back our products which are re-ground and the material re-processed.
In addition to our own environmental responsibility, we also encourage our customers to focus on sustainability by providing alternative solutions in manufacturing materials, transportation methods and product end-use.