Dental Product Waste Becomes a Source of Revenue
3M's Irvine, California facility manufactures dental products. As part of its operations, the facility generates platinum catalyst waste. In 2006, the facility implemented a Pollution Prevention Pays (3P) project which turned this waste into a raw material by working with a recycler to recover and process the waste so that it can be reused. Through this new process, the facility will save over $100,000 and prevent over 1,000 tons of platinum waste annually.
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Post-it® Flags Packaging Redesigned to Reduce Waste
A Pollution Prevention Pays (3P) team from 3M Hutchinson redesigned the packaging of 3M's Post-it® Flags to reduce waste by eliminating the backcard and plastic blister cover from the packaging. In the original process, the Post-it® Flags were produced at 3M's Hutchinson facility and shipped off-site for packaging by an outside vendor. Today, the product is packaged on-site, saving 3M over $350,000 and reducing 35 tons of waste annually.
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Tape Product Developed from Manufacturing Waste
In 2004, 3M Taiwan reformulated its carrier tape to be constructed from waste materials. The new formulation is made of 100% recycled materials, reducing the facility's waste by 120 tons in the first year of the project alone. By using on-hand waste to make the new tape, the facility also eliminates the fees associated with raw material purchases and waste handling.
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3M's Hilden, Germany and Yamagata, Japan Facilities Eliminate Landfilled Waste
3M's Hilden, Germany and Yamagata, Japan facilities have eliminated all of their landfilled waste. The Yamagata and Hilden facilities began by attempting to eliminate as much waste as possible through pollution prevention. After maximizing waste prevention activities, the remaining waste was separated into the four categories of management, reuse, recycling, waste to energy and incineration. Yamagata placed the greatest emphasis on finding ways to reuse the waste internally or finding ways to sell the waste to external markets. Waste was sent to an outside incinerator only when reuse, recycling or waste to energy was not possible. 3M Yamgata's efforts have led to an 83% reduction in total waste since their zero landfill activities began.
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Reducing Waste and Improving Yield During Film Production
3M Nevada, Missouri plant recently completed a 3P project designed to reduce waste by improving the yield of extruded PVC films by 14%. Drawing upon Six Sigma, 3M Nevada used design of experiments and statistical techniques to challenge long-standing beliefs around PVC excursion. After 3M Nevada redesigned the extrusion process, it improved yield beyond its objective and reduced waste by over 80 tons and energy use by 124 MMBTUs in the first year of the project. In addition, the new process saved 3M Nevada over $350,000 in its first year of implementation.
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Scrap Film Recycled Back into Process
At the 3M Decatur, Alabama plant, the edges of the industrial film produced in the plant cannot be used in the final product. Instead of simply throwing away the film's edges as scrap, 3M Decatur employees redesigned the facility's tape line to incorporate a system that effectively reuses the edge trim. This project prevented 164 tons of waste and resulted in a savings of $336,000 the first year.
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