Lift truck manufacturer Crown Equipment Corporation announced that its electronics manufacturing plant in New Bremen, Ohio, has achieved zero landfill status. It is the second Crown facility to reuse or recycle all of its waste. The zero landfill achievement comes at the same time as the company releases its 2010 Crown ecologic Report, which was expanded to include sustainability initiatives and accomplishments from around the world.
The 2010 ecologic report communicates the company’s commitment to sustainable design and business operations, accomplishments in the past year, initiatives in progress, and awards and recognition. This year’s report includes two new sections detailing sustainable design and safety and health programs.
“Crown ecologic represents the synergies that exist between environmental responsibility and sound business management,” said Crown President Jim Dicke III.
Last year, Crown and Walmart Canada collaborated on a project to outfit the retail giant’s new perishable distribution center with a fleet of Crown PC 4500 trucks equipped with fuel cells. The facility was the first complete distribution center in Canada to be powered exclusively by hydrogen fuel cells, and the Crown PC 4500 was the industry’s first pallet truck to be designed specifically for fuel cells in an effort to ensure there was no negative impact on safety, efficiency and performance. Crown has qualified 20 of its electric lift truck models to operate with fuel cells.
Crown’s 2010 ecologic program also reports:
• All facilities in all regions deployed full load-consolidation programs, identified new recycling streams, and added recycling symbols to all applicable new and existing parts.
• Crown Mexico earned a “Clean Industry Certification” from the Mexican Environmental Authority Procuradoría Federal de Protección al Ambiente.
• Crown Australia now uses LPG company cars that will save 58 tons of carbon per year.
• Crown Roding, Germany, reduced packaging materials throughout its operations and started using shredded cardboard for parts shipping. As part of a related initiative, Crown proactively worked with suppliers to deliver most components to the assembly line in reusable containers.
• Crown China upgraded facilities to minimize energy use through installation of a variable frequency drive controlled compressor that matches air conditioning units’ running speed with demand.
• One of Crown’s facilities in New Bremen is on the footprint of what used to be a complex of buildings that functioned primarily as a creamery. The company renovated the existing office space, kept the 30,000-square-foot warehouse and the outbuildings, and tore down the remaining structure. The razed sections’ concrete blocks were crushed and recycled as gravel for a local street. Today, the facilities house Crown’s customer showroom, product photography studio and Crown’s manufacturing management team’s offices. The company’s maintenance department uses the five restored outbuildings.
• In Germany, Crown’s branch located in Stuttgart is equipped with a “green roof” that is covered in vegetation. Green roofs absorb rainwater to reduce storm water runoff and provide additional building insulation. This type of roof also creates a habitat for wildlife, helps lower urban air temperatures, and filters pollutants and carbon dioxide out of the air.
