DuPont™ has achieved zero landfill status in its Building Innovations business by reducing, reusing and recycling manufacted by-products 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 81 million pounds 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™ Zodiaq® quartz surfaces, DuPont™ Tyvek® weatherization systems products and geosynthetic textiles is sent to landfills.
"The Drive to Zero landfill program is good for our business, good for the environment and highly valued by our customers," said Timothy P. McCann, President of DuPont™ Building Innovations. "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."
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 by-products, 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, including:
- Sanding waste from the manufacture of Corian® and Zodiaq® is used as a filler replacement in concrete
- Ground-up scrap Corian® sheet is used as recycled content in first grade products - such as the company's Terra Collection of Corian® solid surfaces that now contain up to 20 percent recycled content;
- Crushed scrap Corian® is sold for use as road sub-base material and as landscape stone;
- Shipping pallets are repaired, reused or ground into animal bedding;
- Carrier belt firm is melted and used to make adhesives, and
- Cafeteria waste is recycled into worm bedding or converted into energy
