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GETTING STARTED = DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING A RECYCLING PROGRAM ((

The Textile World Recycling Waste Minimization Conference

Charlotte, NC February 27 - 28,1991

GETTING STARTED - DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING A RECYCLING PROGRAM

Good Afternoon! 3 My name is Larry Tuggle and, as mentioned, I am the Director of Environmental Services for Russell Corporation in Alexander City, Alabama. After Bill Smith called me and I had agreeded at make a presentation for this conference, I started having second thoughts about what possibly I could present that most of you have not already tried or that was underway, or had completed several years ago. From listening to some of the presentations that have been made and looking at the schedule to follow, obviously a lot of people are way ahead of us, and have completed a lot of things that we are just now struggling with. Maybe some of the problems we have had and some of the approaches we have taken to solve them will benefit some of you, and after this talk is over, you may have derived some benefit from watching us struggle with our program and try to get it underway. Even though, as Director of Environmental Services, I have some responsiblity for our overall compliance with Solid Waste Rules and Regulations throughout the Corporation, our efforts in Alex City - which is what will be talking mostly about today - is a day-to-day responsiblity of Mr. Neil Anderson, Manager of General Services at Russell and who is in the audience with us today. Also from Russell is Mr. Wendell Boos, who has taken a lot of our data, works a lot with our Plant Committees, and took most of the slides you will be seeing today on our Solid Waste program.

Before I start into how we are trying to develop and implement a recycling program, and to help you get a better understanding of where our Solid Waste is generated, let me give you a little background on our operations and why we are faced with this Problem to start with.

*> ( slide) and marketer of leisure apparel, activewear, athletic uniforms, knit

Russell Corporation is a vertically intergrated manufacturer

shirts, and a comphrensive line of woven fabrics. Our manufacturing operations include the entire process of converting raw fibers into finished apparel and fabrics. You will see that in addition to our Alexander City Complex, we have 30 plants spread out in 19 towns in five States in the Southeast. As noted by the slide we also have a operation now in Scotland. Alexander City, Alabama is our Corporate Offices (slide), and from this picture you can see that it is spread out over several hundred acres. This next slide shows that we have grown quite a bid at the Alexander City Complex, going from about three million square feet under roof in 1980 to over four million square feet in 1990. You will see in a few minutes when we look at the amount of waste going to the local landfill, that it very closely resembles our construction growth at the Alexander City Complex during this time period.

From this listing of operations (slide) you can see that a wide variety of operations take place in Alexander City and, thus, various types of waste are generated at this complex. There is a lot of potential for recycling and there is a lot that has been going to the landfill as shown by the following series of slides.(General slides on waste generated at the Alexander City Complex). i>

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C RUSSELL

ORPORATI

LEGEND * - Corporate Headquarters K - Knitting S - Sewing Plant DC - Distribution Center D&F - Dyeing & Finishing Y’ - Yarn Mill

SCOTLAND K,S,DC,D&F

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TOTAL SQUARE

FEET

4 , 500,000

4 , 000,000

3,500,000

3,000,000

GROWTH OF ALEXANDER CITY COMPLEX 1980 - 1990

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...........................

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T I I I I I I I I I I

1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990

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TYPE OF OPERATIONS AT 350 ACRE ALEXANDER CITY, ALABAMA COMPLEX

FIVE (5) SPINNING MILLS ONE (1) WEAVE MILL ONE (1) YARN DYEING OPERATION TWO (2) KNIT DYEING & FINISHING PLANTS ONE (1) WOVEN DYEING & FINISHING PLANT THREE (3) SEWING PLANTS ONE (1) CENTRAL CUTTING FACILITY DISTRIBUTION CENTER & WAREHOUSES THREE (3) KNITTING FACILITIES TWO (2) GREIGE STORAGE FACILITIES

SCREEN PRINTING RECREATION COMPLEX FIVE (5) BOILERS SALES OFFICE CORPORATE OFFICES TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES MAINTENANCE SHOPS RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT DAY CAR E FACl LIT1 ES COMPUTER CENTER

RUSSEL&

This next slide will give you an idea of the amount of waste we have hauled to the Alexander City Landfill in the last 10 years. You will note that the shape of the graph closely resembles that of the previous slide I showed on the construction of our Alexander City Complex over the same ten year period. I would like to also point out that in the years 1980 to 1981 the significant decrease in the solid waste to the landfill was due primarily to the fact that we installed a baler for cardboard in April, 1981. Although, we can't be proud of the increase from 1981 to 1989, at least in the period from 1989 to 1990 we have shown a significant decrease in the amount going to the landfill from about 6800 tons in 1989 to just under 6000 tons in 1990. A l s o , the first two months of 1991, we're on a rate that would be equivalent to about 4000 tons per year, so we have had a significant decrease in the first two months of 1991.

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The next graph I would like to show is our landfill cost at the Alexander City Landfill (slide). You will a lso note on this slide a significant decrease in cost from 1980 to 1981, again due to our recycling of cardboard; the same rise in cost from 1981 to 1989, due somewhat what to a slight price increase but also due to increased tonnage, and then somewhat of a leveling off from 1989 to 1990, again due to increased recycling but also due to another price increase that kept the chart going up slightly. You will also see a chart on our cost for the last ten years. We're charged on a "per yard" basis, and I have shown the approximate cost per ton based on our weighing the trucks as they go to the landfill and getting some average weight per cubic yard. I have no idea how these cost compare to what most of you are paying, but I have a feeling that it is quite low. We have shown some figures for 1992 - on since the city is trying to get a new "Subtitle D" landfill approved and these are some costs that have been projected by their engineering study. Let me stress that the costs

. shown here are landfill cost only and do not include our cost of pickup and hauling to the landfill.

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I mentioned previously that we installed a cardboard baler in 1981, so obviously we are not completely new to the recycling effort. Starting around 1970, cardboard was collected at our Alexander City Facility through Neil Anderson's efforts and sold - on a constantly changing basis - to a local recycler for around $15.00/ton. When his market went down, we gave him the cardboard! At times, we couldn't even give it away. As Neil got more involved - and knowledgeable - about the cardboard market, he found out that our's was industrial strength cardboard - worth about $60.00 to $70.00 at times - and much more valuable on the recycling market than normal "grocery store" cardboard. He also had some dealings with another recycler that would pick up everything - cloth, cardboard, plastic, general mill waste, etc. This worked fine for about 6 months until Neil also found him picking up cases of finished goods from some of our warehouses! When Neil got the new baler in 1981, he was given a corner in a warehouse - a corner that he had to continually fight for since it was always needed for finished goods storage. It was also to be a temporary location - a temporary location that has lasted approximately ten years. In addition to the selling of cardboard there has always been an effort at the company to sell scrap cloth, fibers, and some plastic. In the last ten years, the Company has sold more than 9600 tons of cardboard, 19,000 tons of fabric waste, and 12,700 tons of :J

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0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00- b- <o- m- d-- c') cu- T--

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ANNUAL COSTS

$40,000

$30,000

$20,000

$1 0,000

0

ALEXANDER CITY LANDFILL COSTS

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......

..

..

YEAR

1980 -81 1982 - 88 1989 - 9 1 1992 +

COST PER I APPROXIMATE CUBIC YARD COST PER TON

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$.50 I $2.60 $.60 I $3.1 5

$1 .oo I $5.25 I

$4.00 - $5.00 I $20.00 - $25.00 .......................................................................... .............................. 1

- ............................................................................................ ...

RUSSELk

I I I I I I I 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990

Eiber waste. tons of paper, 27 tons of plastic, and have 20 more bales of plastic ready to be shipped or about 20 tons.

Regarding why so much waste continued to go to the landfill during this time period, there were several reasons:

Also, since the first of 1991 we have already sold 43

a 1. Fluctuating markets for fiber, cloth scraps and cardboard.

2. Our cost were very low - our total solid waste handling cost were not very significant when compared with production labor, material, energy, etc.

3 . Neil did not have any space to do anything else - no room for another baler, no storage room for baled products awaiting shipment, etc.

4 . It was always easier for our service groups and production operations to throw stuff into a dumpster rather than try to save it or separate it in some manner so it could be recycled. It was always Neil's problem once it was pushed out their backdoor into a dumpster - very similar to the way a lot of people view the solid waste problem from their house even today.

We did look at the feasibility of building a solid waste incinerator during this time, but the payback that management wanted was just not there - primiarily because of the low landfill cost during this time and also because we were building a lot of production facilties (as noted by chart shown previously) on our complex during this time period.

So what changed to make us take a closer look at our overall solid waste problem and start trying to increase our efforts at waste reduc- tion and recycling and getting out of the Alexander City Landfil? This next slide lists nine of the major reasons for our extra effort in this area and as you can see the top one is that the local landfill was approaching capacity. The city has applied to the Alabama Depart- ment of Envionmental Management for a new "Subtitle D" Landfill, and I am sure most of you are aware of the associated cost of these type landfills. As noted previously, costs at the existing landfill had doubled since 1981 and is projected to go up even higher. Our pickup and hauling cost within the Alexander City Complex had been increasing and we started looking at the disposal cost for operations outside of Alexander City, which were over $150,000.00 per year. Various State and EPA initiatives regarding mandatory reduction in the ranges of 25% to 50% over the next several years had been discussed, and we were continuing to get more inquires from our customers on all of our environmental goals - including specifically what we are doing regarding recycling and waste reduction.

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Many of you are probably aware of the survey of the textile industry on solid waste practices conducted by the ATMI Environmental Committee in 1989. The results of this survey were presented to the ATMI Board of Directors and, at their 1990 Annual Meeting, set a goal of zero waste, primarily plastics and paper, to public landfills. The following are a few facts generated by the study of the textile industry:(slides on ATMI Survey)

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1. 2. 3. 4.

5.

6.

7.

8. 9.

"INCENTIVES" TO REDUCE OUR SOLID WASTE

Alexander City Landfill approaching capacity. Projected costs of new "Subtitle D" Landfill. Increasing costs at existing landfill. Increasing pickup & hauling costs to landfill by Russell Corporation personnel. Disposal costs for operations outside of Alexander City (approximately $1 50,000 per year) EPA "initatives" for solid waste problem throughout the U.S. More inquiries by our customers on our total e nvi ro n m e n t al I' p i ct u re", g oak, et c . ATMI Survey. ATMI Goal for Textile Industry.

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our country; therefore -

BE IT RESOLVED that the American Textile Manufacturers Institute at its 41st Annual Meeting on May 10, 1990, supports efforts designed to facilitate reduction of solid waste generated by the industry; and further

BE IT RBOLVED that the American Textile Manufacturers Institute calls on all segments of the textile industry complex, including other national, regional and state textile associations, to work together to design solutions to our solid waste disposal problems, particularly with respect to plastic waste; and further

BE IT RESOLVED that American textile companies and employees are encouraged to increase their efforts to protect the environment by taking advantage of recycling opportunities; and further

As shown by this next slide, Russell has set some goals for the Alexander City Operation as well as facilities outside the home office. Many of you may already be achieveing these t p e goals, but recognizing the fact that the first two months of 1991 we were still hauling to the landfill at a rate of 4000 tons per year, we realize we have a long way to go. We also realize that we cannot achieve the Alexander City goal strictly by waste reduction and recycling. Obviously, there will be some waste left over and we will discuss it more later. We are hoping that part of our solution will be the existing wood waste boilers. not really gotten into problems at our outlying facilities, but a lot more time will be spent on this in the next few months.

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Other than some initial surveys, we have

A few of the initial steps to start expanding our program are shown on the following slides. Obviously a letter from the President and CEO was necessary to show that management was totally behind the program, and that we have their committment to do whatever is necessary to get the program underway regarding facilities, manhours, etc. Even though Neil Anderson had been doing this work for the last 20 years, he was officially designated as the Corporate Manager to head up this effort.

Solid Waste Committees were set up in each plant to look at where their waste was being generated, what was coming into the plant that could be eliminated, where substitutions could be maae, etc. All they want to know is what we were trying to accomplish, what type of material could be recycled, what the benefits to the plant would be regarding income from the recycling effort, etc. Many were already involved in some type of recycling effort where they lived and were willing to take an active part in the Company's effort. new building, an old shed near our carpenter shop was enclosed and expanded to get Neil out of his 10 year temporary warehouse and an additional baler and shredder are on order for this new building. We would suggest that you thoroughly investigate any pieces of equipment you are going to buy, look at other installations, talk to people that have been using the equipment, and make sure how they are using it, and make sure how it is going to fit into your operation. We found out real quick that the literature furnished by some of these suppliers does not always give you the real facts as to what the piece of equipment will do. Recycling containers were placed at all facilities including office break areas, our recreation complex, day care facilities, etc.

Regarding our 3

These next few slides show some additional steps they we currently have underway to expand our solid waste program.

DRUM MANAGEMENT PROGRAM: Our drum managment program consists of several things:

1. Going to more bulk storage facilities. 2. Increased use of returnable plastic drums for dyes and chemicals. 3 . Sending out a drum questionnaire to all of our facilities to find

out what type dyes and/or chemicals they are using, who the suppliers are, type of drums, the size of the drums that they are now getting or would like to get, number of drums of each size and type, etc. Working with the ATMI Environmental Committee to find an Industry wide solution to the drum problem.

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RUSSELL CORPORATION GOALS FOR SOLID WASTE PROBLEM

Elimination of all solid waste to the Alexander City Landfill by the end of 1991

0 A 50% reduction of solid waste going to public landfills from all facilities outside of Alexander City by the end of 1991

INITIAL STEPS TO EXPAND PROGRAM

1. 2.

3. 4. New building. 5. 6.

Letter to all employees from President & C.E.O. Designation of Corporate Manager for recycling and waste reduction effort. Establishment of solid waste committees in each plant.

Additional baler, new shredder, etc. Recycling containers around complex for aluminum, glass, paper, etc.

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ADDITIONAL STEPS THAT HAVE BEEN TAKEN OR UNDERWAY

1. 2.

3. 4. 5. 6.

7.

8.

9.

Drum management program. Disposition of pallets - returnable, substitution, burning, etc. Selling of bale wrap, clear plastic, etc. Detailed survey of each plants waste. Listing of problems & priorities for each plant. Stress "returnable or recyclable" concept to all plants, purchasing department, stockrooms, etc. Increased contacts with recyclers, waste exchanges, other textile companies, etc. Production of video / slide presentation to be shown to all employees. Will not pick up waste that's not properly "prepared. 'I

PALLETS: Regarding pallets, I don't know if you will ever find a total solution to this problem. Some of our plants have eliminated pallets by going to slip sheets, putting more pressure'on the supplier to pick up their pallets after so many trips to our plant, finding new sources for used pallets and investigating the possiblity of "hogging" these pallets for fuel into our existing wood waste boilers. Also, we still give a l o t of pallets away to our employees - are really anyone else that has a need for them.

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BALE WRAP, CLEAR PLASTIC, ETC.: We are now making a more concentrated effort to sell all of our plastic, both the clear plastic and the yellow and white woven polypropolene from bale wraps. From some of the slides that I have previously shown it's obvious that we have been hauling a lot of this material to the local landfill. On a weekly basis, we get about 1500 bales of cotton and 900 bales of synthetic material into our Alex City Complex. I also mentioned that since the first of the year, we have ready to ship over 20 tons of this material. So, Neil and-his crew are making a definite effort to stop this from going to the landfill. I will get into more detail as to some of the steps that have taken to get this ready for baling in one of the next sections.

DETAILED SURVEY OF EACH PLANTS WASTE: This item has been one of the largest benefits to us in evaulating our overall potential for waste reduction and recycling. We are looking at what comes in the front door of the Plant and what they push out the back - from production facilities to offices, supply rooms, service shops, etc. This is one of the areas that Wendell has spent a lot of his time on by either riding around with a 25 yard packer truck or spending time in the plants themselves watching as they load this material internally and push it out the back door. What we are looking for here is not only the type of waste coming from each facility but trying to determine the volume and, if possible, the weight on a weekly or daily basis. Our solid waste charges are prorated to each facility, but if we could come up with some easy way to determine total pounds per week produced by each facility, it would give us a good base to evaluate our total recycling effort. Obviously, each plant wants to get credit for what they are doing in this effort, and the overall effort would go off a lot smoother if you could show them the progress made each month or each year for their specific operation.

We've also had outside sources come in from time to time and help us evaluate our overall problem. In addition to various recycling companies that have looked at the facility, we've also had representatives from an agency called "Waste Reduction and Technology Transfer Program (WRATT)" 1 think several states have programs similar to this. It started in Alabama approximately a year ago, and we were one of the initial six or seven industries that participated in their first evaluation of industries in Alabama. The program is free to industry and the survey's are done by a group of retired engineers supported by some State funding for this effort.

LISTING OF PROBLEMS AND PRIORITIES FOR EACH PLANT: Working with the recycling committees in each plant, we have tried to identify specific problems in their plant that is preventing the recycling of their waste streams. The following slides show some examples of this and

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include things such as wire ties on bales of synthetic and cotton material, contamination of all-white waste with colored waste, paper labels on clear plastic bags, paper labels on synthetic bale wrap, cutting paper between cloth on layup tables, long string-type material from our cutting operations, wires on clear plastic tubing from our athletic cutting operation, and tape on plastic tubing from our cutting operations. Each of these problems, although relatively small in nature compared to our over all solid waste problem, represents just another small percent of our ability to recycle more waste. After developing a list of problems, we sat down with each recycling committee and set priorities as to which of these problems should be attacked first, which ones are easiest to correct and which ones may need a little 'vmanagement" help.

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STRESS "RETURNABLE OR RECYCLABLE" CONCEPT TO ALL PLANTS, PURCHASING DEPARTMENT, STOCK ROOMS, ETC.: This concept is definitely not new in the Industry (possibly it came from a Nissan program Neil read about) but it definitely applies to our facilities. One area that we never really looked at closely was our supply rooms and the amount of material that comes in types of cardboard they we are presently not able to recycle and that could just as easily come in small plastic bags.

INCREASED CONTACTS WITH RECYCLERS, WASTE EXCHANGES, AND OTHER TEXTILE COMPANIES: Although like most of you, we have waste dealers that we have dealt with for many years, a lot of these are handled by various divisions within our company, and we have not been looking at it as an overall Russell Corporation problem. What may be good for one division may not necessary be the best overall plan for the corporate program. although we are investigating these options. We have received a lot of information from other textile firms regarding how they are handling specific types of waste and the companies they are dealing with on specific problems.

We have not had a lot of dealing with waste exchanges, 3

PRODUCTION OF VIDEOS/SLIDE PRESENTATION TO BE SHOWN TO ALL EMPLOYEES: We feel this will do more to help our overall program than anything we have tried so far - even the recycling committee. We have never really shown all of our employees what the overall picture is - what is the problem from a Company stand-point, as well as that in Alex City and the State of Alabama. I am sure, like the rest of us, they read about the problem in the papers, but I don't know that it has really hit home as to how significant the problem is in their own plant as well as the overall Company problem.

WILL NOT PICK UP WASTE THAT IS NOT PROPERLY "PREPARED": I mentioned previously that in the past it has been so easy for a plant to push everything out the back door and make it "Neil's Problem". This is changing. I mentioned above that we've identified problems in each plant - problems that prevent us from recycling some of their waste material. Once these problems have been identified and solutions have been reached with their recycling committee and plant management, they are expected to follow through on these recommendations. If it means removing wire ties from bale wraps then that is what they are supposed to do. If it meams removing paper labels from clear plastic tubing, then that's what they are supposed to do before Neil's crew will pick

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up the material and take it to our building for recycling. now tactfully told that the waste is still theirs until it is prepared properly for baling.

In spite of the progress we have made over the past several months - and sometimes it appears to be extremely slow - we still have some problems we are trying to address that will improve our overall recycling and waste reduction effort. These are listed on the following slides:

They are

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1. BUILDING SPACE FOR ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT, STORAGE OF MATERIAL, ETC. I mentioned previously and showed you a slide of our new building for our recycling effort. Basically we took what we could get at the time and already we are just about out of room at this facility. Obviously, it is a lot better and contains a lot more room than Neil's 10 year "temporary" facility in one of our old warehouses. So, for the time being, we are satisified with what we have but are hoping down the road we can expand either this facility or look for another larger building for our operations.

2 . PERSON OR DEPARTMENT. not addressed our solid waste problem as a total company problem. Various departments in the Company handle cloth waste, fiber waste, scrap metal, etc., and whatever they can't sell or give away they give to Neil. handle all waste materials generated by the Company and they will have to look at an overall program that will allow us to get rid of all of our waste and not just the cream of the crop. Obviously, this would require some negotiating with waste handling companies, scrap dealers, recyclers, etc., but I feel it could be handled and coordinated better by one person rather than the various departments that are involved at this time.

HANDLING OF ALL WASTE IS NOT COMPLETELY UNDER THE CONTROL OF ONE I mentioned previously that in the past we have

I personally feel that we need one "waste department'' to

3 . WASTE HANDLING FACILITIES ARE LOCATED IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT

waste handling operations are now located in about four different places and are operated by personnel from these different facilities. If an additional person is needed at one of these facilities to provide some separation prior to pick up by Neil's crews, there is always a problem of getting that person authorized for this purpose. I personally think it would be an improvement if all of these various operations came under one control even though they are physically located in different areas. I'm still not sure that Neil wants all these people, but I feel it would improve our overall program. I'm not so sure if they should all be physically located in one facility since some of them are located at the point of waste generation, but this is another area that we are presently investigating regarding what is the best way to manage the total waste problem. There is nothing we can do about it now anyway since our new building does not have the space to house these additional pieces of equipment.

PLACES. This item ties in with items one and two in that our

4 . RESIDUAL WASTE THAT WILL HAVE TO BE DISPOSED OF: There is no way that, through waste reduction and recycling, we will be able to completely eliminate our waste stream from the Alexander City Complex. Our present thoughts regarding the solution of this problem is to look at the use of one of our existing wood waste boilers or even the feasiblity of installing a new boiler for handling waste materials.

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1. 2.

3.

4. 5.

PROBLEMS THAT STILL EXIST

Building space for equipment, storage, etc. Handling of all waste not completely under the control of one person or department. Waste handling facilities are located in several different places. Residual waste that will have to be disposed of. Variable markets, prices, etc. for recyclable material.

RUSSELL;

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5. VARIABLE MARKETS, P R I C E S , ETC. FOR RECYCLABLE MATERIAL: Obviously this is a problem that we all face even with our finished product. - cloth material at least six inches square - but one of the things that significantly affects our ablility to get rid of other cloth waste is the automobile market. A lot of this material is reprocessed and is used in door panels, carpet mats, etc. and when this market is depressed, we have not found to many other markets for this type material. We do have some suppliers that will take this material at no cost to them other than transportation and store it at their facilities until the market improves.

We've always had a fairly good market for our cloth "wipes" -3

I mentioned previously that we are looking at the use of one of our wood waste boilers as a possible solution to getting rid of any residual waste following all recycling and waste reduction efforts. You may think that we could just throw this in the saw dust pile and it would go right on into the boiler and burn. few slides will show we still have a little work to do in this area.

I think the following

I have appreciated the opportunity to give you a summary of what we are trying to do at Russell. Again I don't think we have tried anything new or different than a lot of you have been doing, but if there is any additional information that I can provide, or that Neil or Wendell can fill you in on, we will be glad to do it. We are generating more cost data, weight data, and classification data on our overall solid waste problem, and are slowly but surely making some progress. We, like you, are always looking for solutions, so if you have any quick fixes as how to handle pallets and cutter and seamer waste please contact one of us before the day is over.

Thank you very much! 3

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