Bottling plants for Sunny Delight and Diageo have both accomplished goals relating to reducing waste sent to landfills.
For Sunny Delight, all six of its manufacturing sites have reached their goal of sending zero waste to landfills at least three years ahead of time. The goal had been to cease sending waste to landfills by 2013, according to a press release.
The goal was achieved by the company's plants in Anaheim, Calif.; Littleton, Mass.; and Mataro, Spain, in 2009. Its South Brunswick, N.J.; Atlanta, Ga., and Sherman, Texas, sites achieved the goal this year.
Sunny Delight says the effort means that 1,140 fewer tons of waste will be going to landfills in the communities where these plants operate.
Diageo, meanwhile, has instituted a new process at its Menlo Park, Calif., bottling plant that moves it closer to zero landfill status.
The plant is separating filter pads, used in filtering beverages, into a composting process, according to a press release.
Diageo said this represents about half of the waste that formerly was sent to landfills.
Diageo also is installing energy efficient lighting fixtures at that plant, as well as a bottling and packaging facility in Relay, Md.
In Relay, efforts to replace fluorescent lighting, and to repair a steam delivery system, should help deliver a combined carbon reduction of 489 tons of carbon dioxide per year.
At the plant, Diageo is phasing out gasoline-powered vehicles in favor of smaller, all-weather electric utility trucks. The new vehicles should help reduce the facility's carbon footprint by 10 tons of carbon dioxide a year.
Finally, the plant's boiler is being modernized, which should translate to a savings of 173 tons of carbon dioxide per year.