COLUMBUS — The Ohio Chemistry Technology Council (OCTC) recently celebrated its 30 years of exceptional performance in environment, health, safety and security efforts at the state’s annual chemistry industry conference.
The OCTC is an advocate for Ohio’s chemical technology industry, the second largest manufacturing industry in Ohio and the sixth largest chemical manufacturing state in the nation.
During the event, OCTC presented its Annual Awards for Excellence to 30-member organizations which went above and beyond its commitment to protecting people and the environment. Recipients demonstrated exceptional work in both safety and communications in at least one of the four performance categories — environment, health, safety and security. Among them was Preble County’s Dow Chemical Company of West Alexandria.
According to OCTC,a cross functional team from the Dow West Alexandria site found a way to reduce waste, save costs and deliver new customer solutions. Faced with significant price increases through the waste vendor outlets a cross-functional team was assembled to determine if there was any value to be gained from two solvent based by-product streams generated through one of the standard production processes. The results of the year long process are significant.
These two industrial solvent by-product streams, were moved from a waste stream to products that are usable through select downstream outlets as they are manufactured. This solution generated $200,000 in annual savings from disposal costs. The team was able to work together as a group to find a creative solution that addressed sustainability, cost savings, and team collaboration for the benefit of all.
”A true win for all- more solvent by-products will be put to work and a cost savings has been realized by the site,” OCTC officials said in a press release.
OCTC’s highest honor, The Eagle Award for Excellence, was presented to Lubrizol Corporation’s Painesville facility for its distinguished performance in scope, implementation, impact and sustainability among all Excellence Award recipients.
The Lubrizol – Painesville facility completed a multi-phased project that spread across a 4-year period at a cost of approximately $70 million. The project included construction of a new access road for employees, visitors and contractors and relocation of employee and contractor parking as well as the installation of two storm water detention ponds. The company also remodeled the security truck gate and built a 30,000 square-foot building with state-of-the-art automated packaging of 55-gallon drums and 330-gallon totes. A dedicated staging area was constructed to accommodate up to 40 truck trailers as well as a 150,000 square foot shipping warehouse with 10 truck loading docks. The company also remodeled the old shipping warehouse to efficiently function as the receiving warehouse.
The footprint of the project was engineered to avoid impacts to critical habitats resulting in the disturbance of less than a half-acre of low quality wetlands. To offset this impact, 8.4 acres of high quality wetlands and approximately 300 linear feet of Tiber Creek and its tributaries were preserved in perpetuity. The new infrastructure made significant improvements to the overall health, safety and security of Lubrizol employees, visitors and contractors while minimizing the impact on the community and environment.
“Our annual conference is a testament to OCTC’s long-term commitment to promoting environmental, health, safety and security efforts within the chemistry technology industry,” said Jenn Klein, president of OCTC. “We’re proud to recognize organizations like the Lubrizol Corporation – Painesville facility for their dedication to protecting our communities and contributing to society through the chemical industry.”
