Kimball Office recognized for its pollution prevention programs

The Post Falls branch of Kimball Office was one of five businesses this year declared “Pollution Prevention Champions” by the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. Kimball, which manufactures metal office furniture, was recognized for its pollution-prevention efforts, including reducing hazardous waste and wastewater; replacing compressors with high-efficiency units and configuring them to run on demand; and upgrading light fixtures to more efficient bulbs. “Our significant environmental aspects for this year are reduced electricity usage, reduced wastewater generation, reduced landfill diversion through increased recycling, and reduced natural gas usage,” says John Brennan, Kimball’s safety, security, and environmental health manager in Post Falls. As of August, Kimball Office had recycled more than 92 percent of the waste materials it generated this year, the company says. The Post Falls plant, along with its Jasper, Ind.-based parent company, Kimball International, has an active pollution-prevention program. “Kimball International, as a whole, feels that we are stewards of the environment,” Brennan says. “The environment is our home. We need to make the efforts today to preserve for future generations.” Brennan monitors usage and waste and reductions throughout the year and then determines whether there was a cost savings. For example, when the company began using powder coatings rather than liquid paint six years ago, it reduced the amount of hazardous waste it produced from hundreds of tons a year to one 55-gallon drum every 18 months. The move saved Kimball Office $300,000 a year in hazardous waste disposal costs, Brennan says. More recently, the company began using a new chemical cleaning process to further reduce the amount of wastewater it produces, as well as the amount of chemical additives within that discharge. In 2008, the plant generated nearly 2.5 million fewer gallons of industrial wastewater, and another 316,000 gallons less in 2009. Using the new “dry in place” process, Kimball Office expects to reduce the amount of industrial wastewater it produces by more than 50 percent, Brennan says. To be recognized by the state of Idaho as a Pollution Prevention Champion, companies were required to fill out an application and demonstrate how they applied pollution-prevention efforts to their operations, and how they reduced waste and toxic materials bought or generated, the state says. “Pollution prevention provides both economic and environmental benefits by reducing both the volume and cost of hazardous waste, emissions, wastewater, and other materials,” said Joanna Pierce, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality’s Pollution Prevention Coordinator, in a press release. “It can be as simple as adjusting equipment, employee practices, or the materials used.” Other companies recognized as pollution-prevention champions, included Bon Appétit Management Co., of Caldwell; Idaho Sand & Gravel/Idaho Concrete, of Nampa; the Pocatello branch of ON Semiconductor; and the Driggs office of Silver Star Communications.