DuPont Zero Landfill Status, Building Innovations Recycling, Les Thermes Sports Centre Picture

DuPont Building Innovations : Zero Landfill Status

Recycling News – Reducing Annual Waste

15 Mar 2012

DuPont Building Innovations achieves “Zero Landfill Status”

Collaboration drives recycling and eliminates more than 36 740 tons of annual waste

DuPont™ Building Innovations

March 15, 2012 – DuPont has achieved zero landfill status in its Building Innovations business by reducing, reusing and recycling manufacturing byproducts and waste at manufacturing sites globally. After three years of focused effort, DuPont Building Innovations has become completely landfill-free, reducing its environmental footprint from 36 740 tons of landfill waste annually to zero.

Now, through the “Drive to Zero” landfill program, none of the waste generated by the business from the manufacture of DuPont™ Corian® solid surfaces, DuPont™ Tyvek® high-performance breather building membranes, DuPont™ Typar and DuPont™ Plantex® geosynthetic textiles and other products is sent to landfills.

DuPont™ Tyvek® for the Les Thermes Sports Centre in Luxembourg:

photo : DuPont, all rights reserved

“The Drive to Zero landfill program is good for our business, good for the environment and highly valued by our customers – Working with our supply chain partners to tackle the zero landfill goal was critical to the success of our business in reducing its environmental footprint. Collaborating with our business partners allowed us to succeed in reaching our ambitious project goal of zero landfill,” said Timothy P. McCann, president of DuPont Building Innovations.

Chair design called ‘Leftover’ by Rabih Hage for the Corian® Colour Evolution exhibition in April in Milan, which uses ‘off-cuts’ of Corian®:

rendering courtesy of Rabih Hage, all rights reserved

By completely eliminating landfill – not just reducing it – DuPont Building Innovations has created a new standard for environmental stewardship. The Drive to Zero project was comprehensive in other ways, too. Manufacturing byproducts, unusable raw materials, product scrap, construction debris and even cafeteria waste were all within scope at the project’s 15 global manufacturing and partner sites.

Today, material that previously may have been destined for a landfill is being reused or recycled. Some examples:
– sanding waste from the manufacture of DuPont™ Corian® is used as a filler replacement in concrete;
– ground-up scrap of DuPont™ Corian® sheet is used as recycled content in first grade products;
– crushed scrap of DuPont™ Corian® is sold for use as road sub-base material and as landscape stone;
– DuPont™ Tyvek® wrap and flashing manufacturing trim is recycled into first-grade material;
– shipping pallets are repaired, reused, or ground into animal bedding;
– carrier belt film is melted and used to make adhesives;
– cafeteria waste is recycled into worm bedding or converted into energy.

DuPont BI Crushed Corian landscaping stone:

photo : DuPont, all rights reserved

The Drive to Zero landfill project was particularly unique in that it included third-party partner sites, where products are often made for other companies. This meant that the project team had to manage the challenge of eliminating all unrelated product manufacturing landfill waste. DuPont Building Innovations brings dynamic science to the discovery and development of innovative products and services for residential and commercial construction.

DuPont – one of the first companies to publicly establish environmental goals more than 20 years ago – has broadened its sustainability commitments beyond internal footprint reduction to include market-driven targets for both revenue and research and development investment. The goals are tied directly to business growth, specifically to the development of safer and environmentally improved new products for key global markets.

DuPont™ AirGuard® used for the pop-up Cineroleum project in London last year:

photo courtesy of Cineroleum, all rights reserved

About DuPont Building Innovations – From innovative energy-saving systems to beautiful and long-lasting surfacing solutions, the extensive offering of DuPont Building Innovations delivers safety, durability, beauty and energy efficiency, providing a major contribution to the modern built environment – across the spectrum of building and architecture, to roads, bridges and other infrastructure and also to landscaping and gardens. The main products and brands managed by DuPont Building Innovations are DuPont™ Corian®, DuPont™ Tyvek®, DuPont™ Typar® and DuPont™ Plantex®.

Tyvek waste pellets:

photo : DuPont, all rights reserved

DuPont (NYSE: DD) has been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of innovative products, materials, and services since 1802. The company believes that by collaborating with customers, governments, NGOs, and thought leaders we can help find solutions to such global challenges as providing enough healthy food for people everywhere, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting life and the environment. For additional information about DuPont and its commitment to inclusive innovation, please visit http://www.dupont.com.

DuPont™ Building Innovations images / information received 150312

Location: New York