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$80,000 to boost IMEC’s innovative Waste to Profit program
ROCKFORD – A grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will enable the City of Rockford to expand an innovative program that is helping local companies collaborate and turn their industrial waste into more profitable and innovative uses. The Waste-to-Profit Network enables participating companies to accept traditional waste (e.g. -- wood, cardboard, tires, electronics, plastics, etc.) from other companies and convert it into usable inputs, saving the companies money and diverting waste from landfills. The additional funds will be used to help facilitate waste sharing beyond just non-hazardous and solid waste materials.
“Being green is not just about climate change. It's about using our resources more efficiently,” said Mary Hallock, Sustainable Development Manager for IMEC and program director for the Waste-to-Profit Network. “Things change so quickly in the ‘green’ world that companies cannot do everything on their own. It takes connections and networking with other companies to speed the learning curve and bring the benefits to companies more quickly.”
Thirty one companies have participated in the Rockford Waste-to-Profit-Network, meeting regularly in facilitated sessions to discuss waste and look for synergy matches. IMEC works with other area partners to coach companies on how to explore, identify and test potentially valuable opportunities. In between meetings, IMEC seeks matches from sources outside the network. Examples of successful synergies developed by the Waste-to-Profit Networks that IMEC has established throughout Illinois:
- One Rockford company sent two gaylords full of computers to Illinois Growth for the Computers to Schools program.
- A Northern Illinois company is sending scrap resin to an Iowa cement manufacturer where it is burned as fuel in their cement kiln.
- A Central Illinois Food company is selling used plastic barrels to another company that turns them into rain barrels for resale. The food company is generating about $250/month from selling its drums.
- Two companies are sending wood waste (broken pallets other wood from packaging) to another Central IL company which is converting them to pellets and erosion barriers.
- One mid-state company had large amounts of bubble wrap it had traditionally thrown away. It is now sending the wrap to another local company, which is re-purposing it for re-use.
“Companies large and small have much to gain from finding new uses for their consumables,” said Hallock. “Waste-to-Profit is a targeted approach to creating these collaborative relationships.”
Hallock said the additional $80,000 – funded through Rockford’s Energy Efficiency & Conservation Block Grant under the ARRA Stimulus program – will enable IMEC and the City of Rockford to expand Waste-to-Profit to include other areas of the community and focus on other wastes not currently targeted.
“We’ll look for ways to re-use hazardous materials, water, emissions, and power,” she said. The program will also develop neighborhood linkages that seek waste diversion and minimization within more confined areas. “We’ve found that the closer participants are to one another geographically, the more likely they are to work together to share one another’s waste streams and create waste diversion solutions.“
IMEC and the City of Rockford’s Green Team will collaborate to promote the program and recruit companies from a variety of business sectors, including retail, restaurants, and community organizations. Potential future meeting topics include focuses on Energy (lighting, pumps and motors, HVAC), Water, Materials, Green Product Design, Biodiversity, BioEnergy, Wind Energy, Solar Energy, Measuring Sustainability, Green Marketing, Transportation, Green Buildings, Rainwater Harvesting, Recycling.
For program details, visit www.imec.org/wastetoprofit or call IMEC’s Mary Hallock at 815-721-4474.
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