NewAge goes green with zero waste

SOUTHAMPTON, Pa.—NewAge Industries recently celebrated a significant green achievement: It's now a zero-waste organization. All waste is reused, recycled or disposed of by combustion at a local Energy from Waste facility.

NewAge, a manufacturer of plastic, rubber and silicone tubing, generates waste during its production process. The company has always had a focus on eco-friendly initiatives, but the landfill-free status takes it to a new level.

"A lot of it is our CEO," said Ann Phy, marketing coordinator, about—CEO Ken Baker's drive for green. The initiatives come from the top.

"He's very pro-environmental. I understand his house is heated by geothermal energy. He drives an electric car," Phy said.

Much of the decision to achieve a landfill-free status came from Baker wanting to better handle the company's own waste. AdvantaPure, NewAge's high purity tubing division, has many customers in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical manufacturing industries. These manufacturing processes employ many Single-Use materials, such as tubing, connectors and filters, Phy said, that creates a lot of wastes since its disposed of after one use.

To make the switch from standard trash disposal to an energy-from-waste facility, NewAge reached out to its trash hauler, Republic Services, Phy said. Republic said NewAge could switch to using EfW disposal instead of going to a landfill. It did not cost the company any more to make this transition.

Republic Services takes the non-recyclable trash to a nearby EfW facility and burned as part of an energy recovery system. At the facility, metals are removed and recycled. The trash hauler then burns the remaining trash and uses it to heat water. This heated water is converted to steam, which can drive turbine generators to produce electricity.

Beyond its landfill-free status, NewAge pays attention to other energy efficient means. It began utilizing solar power in 2011 with 4,082 solar panels on its roof, Phy said.

"They provide about half of our electricity needs," she added. "When we aren't here on the weekends, any energy that's produced goes back to the local electric company."

The company is making electricity even when no one is in the building, she said, which they feel good about.

Scrapped material, which can be thousands of pounds each year, is now reused and made into new tubing whenever possible, Phy said. Some rubber tubing scrap is recycled and incorporated into other industrial products.

One such use is through the Vish Group, Phy said, that uses silicone in part of track material, where it is blended with soil and adds a bit of cushion for the horses.

Other plant investments at the NewAge facility included new windows, energy-efficient lighting, building insulation and high-efficiency motors and capacitors. Phy said the firm replaced all the lighting in the warehouse, switching from a standard fluorescent bulb to a more efficient one.

NewAge is currently switching 20,000 square feet of warehouse space to manufacturing space, which will be lit with LED lighting.

The firm also has formed a green committee, which is made up of employees that have an interest in recycling and reuse. The group formed a few months ago and already have improvements rolling out, she added. One program is alkaline battery recycling where employees recycle batteries from both work and home to reduce the number of alkaline batteries that go into a landfill.

The company also foots the bill for employees to bring in recyclables ranging from 3-7 since locals can only recycle ones and twos at home, Phy said. NewAge's recycling plan has been in existence for more than 20 years.