EPA Region 4 Announces 2021 Pollution Prevention Recognition Award Winners in the Southeast
Awardees in Kentucky, Mississippi and South Carolina recognized for distinguished efforts to prevent pollution.
ATLANTA (February 16, 2022) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 announced the 2021 Pollution Prevention (P2) Recognition Award Winners. Region 4 recognized companies in Kentucky, Mississippi, and South Carolina.
"EPA is excited to recognize the pollution prevention projects for this year’s Region 4 P2 Award winners,” said EPA Region 4 Administrator Daniel Blackman.” Region 4 celebrates these forward-thinking organizations that have reduced their environmental impact, improved the quality of life in their communities, and often realized cost savings as an added benefit.”
The EPA Region 4 P2 Award program is an annual, voluntary, and non-monetary recognition award program. This year’s award winners are Ford Motor Company in Louisville, Kentucky, Siemens Energy in Richland, Mississippi, and Shutterfly, LLC in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
Ford Motor Company designs, manufactures, markets and services a full line of passenger and commercial vehicles. In 2020, Ford began implementing a pollution prevention project to reuse treated wastewater treatment (WWT) effluent in the paint pretreatment process. The new process reduces the volume of water sent to a publicly owned treatment works and reduces the amount of freshwater used in the manufacturing process. After the first year of the projects implementation the facility reduced city water usage by over 5 million gallons, equating to over 22 gallons per vehicle and approximately $50,000 in savings.
Siemens Energy is a manufacturer of high voltage circuit breakers and voltage regulators for the power transmission industry. Motivated to reduce energy consumption internally, in 2019 Siemens Energy completed two projects that improved process efficiency and reduced electricity use. Siemens Energy implemented automation and air flow improvements related to compressed air systems and replaced the traditional roll up doors with high-speed doors to reduce the loss of conditioned air. Together, the two projects resulted in over 260,000 kWh of annual electricity savings and 239,000 pounds of annual Co2 equivalent avoidance.
Shutterfly family of brands together make up a leading online retail and manufacturing platform for photography and personalized products. In 2021, Shutterfly changed their Cards production process to decrease waste and materials used by increasing the batch sizes run by the printing presses. Shutterfly also replaced many of their older presses with newer models that reduce energy usage and VOCs emitted. In 2019, the header sheets were redesigned to reduce ink coverage by 60% per sheet. Shutterfly’s P2 activities have contributed to a 24% decrease in waste produced, 7% decrease in energy usage, and reduced impact on natural wood resources through saving thousands of B2-size sheets of paper.
Background
Pollution prevention (P2) is any practice that reduces, eliminates, or prevents pollution at its source. P2 conserves natural resources, including water and energy, through the implementation of cost-effective changes in production, operation, and the use of raw materials. EPA’s P2 program is voluntary and encourages stakeholders to seek innovative ways to prevent pollution through a competitive grant process and the provision of technical assistance to businesses. PA’s Pollution Prevention (P2) Grant competition is currently accepting applications. P2 Grants provide technical assistance to businesses, encouraging P2 approaches that result in reductions in toxic pollutants and the use of water, energy, and other raw materials, while also lowering business costs. To learn about eligibility and find out more about the P2 Grant program, visit https://www.epa.gov/p2/grant-programs-pollution-prevention.
To learn more about the Region 4 awards and to apply for a 2022 Region 4 P2 Award, visit the R4 P2 Award program website at www.epa.gov/ga/southeast-regions-pollution-prevention-recognition-awards.