Americhem’s Environmental Efforts

Since 2008, Americhem has had an active approach to become an environmentally friendly company. We set and accomplish our goals by changes in how our business operates, the products we provide and the technologies we develop. Environmental responsibility is a key element in our company principles, and we are always trying to better ourselves to follow through with our commitment to our people, the public and the environment.

Office Improvements

• We have made big changes at our plants and in our offices where there are many opportunities to continue to improve.
• Implemented recycling programs at all of our locations for polymer waste, cans, bottles, paper and items such as ink cartridges.
• Installed light switch sensors and high efficiency lighting across our US plant network.
• Departments such as accounting and purchasing made an effort to go paperless by using systems such as the automated clearing house (ACH).
• Americhem corporate offices have solar tubes in the ceilings, increasing the use of natural light and reducing electrical consumption.

ISO 14001 Certification

The ISO 14001 standard certifies that companies follow a specific framework to help reduce negative impact on the environment. Our plant located in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio has been ISO 14001 certified for a year and we have a goal to certify all of our plants in the future, starting with our plant in Suzhou, China in 2016.

In Our Plants

We identified a list of potential changes when we evaluated our plants. All of our plants are working towards zero landfill input, which is a work in progress but a goal that we see as possible. At our plants, we use recirculating cooling systems (chillers) to cool many different pieces of equipment. The heat absorbed from the process must be dissipated to allow reuse of the water so cooling towers/chillers are used for this purpose. They save us from using a lot of city water that normally would be wasted once used in processing.

Eco-Friendly Products

Another way that we reduce environmental impact is through products such as nBalance™ sustainable solutions and solution dyeing technology.

• 31 of our American PET colorants received Oeko Tex certification for synthetic fibers in Europe.
• nBalance - a mix of color and additive masterbatches that are designed to reduce consumption of natural resources and use minimal energy in manufacturing and distribution.
• Solution Dye Process - enhances your fiber production by coloring and spinning fiber in just one step. It also requires less water and eliminates the need for downstream equipment.

We also make hundreds of unique masterbatches for building products that do not require on-site applied materials, such as paint and stain. We help create products that contain recycled materials, giving you consistent results with more environmentally-friendly materials. We also help reduce the yellowness characteristics of recycled polymer streams.

Go Green with Americhem

With Americhem, you have a partner that not only provides you with state-of-the-art color and additive masterbatches, but also one that can help you limit your impact on the environment. Call us today at 1-800-228-3476 or contact us online to see the Americhem difference for yourself.

 

Aubrey Barto

Marketing Assistant, Americhem

 

ISO 14001: What it Means For You

At Americhem, we make a commitment to the public and the environment. We strive to maintain safe work practices that will not only benefit the environment, but also our community.

Since environmental responsibility is a key element in our company principles, we became certified to ISO 14001, a family of standards that helps companies and organizations focus on ways to responsibly operate and minimize impact on the environment.

What ISO 14001 Means

By following ISO 14001, Americhem and other companies follow a framework to help minimize negative impacts on the environment. It also means that we are constantly striving to find ways to improve our environmental management strategies and making for a better future.

How it Impacts Americhem

Currently, our Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio manufacturing plant, which handles a lot of our automotive products, is certified to the ISO 14001 standard.

Eventually, we will be moving to have all of our plants certified to help the environment and everyone in the surrounding communities. Some of the ways we reduce waste and energy usage is by:

• Utilizing product development to engineer greener products
• Implementing recycling programs
• Developing more efficient supply chains
• Preventing spill containment and practicing safe waste disposal
• Improving energy efficiencies
• Ensuring reporting requirements are met

We pride ourselves on offering high-quality, custom color concentrates while maintaining safe environmental practices. Give us a call at 1-800-228-3476 or contact us online today to see the benefits of working with Americhem for yourself.

ISO 14001 Teaches Americhem Employees Environmental Awareness

Our company’s plant in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, recently became certified to ISO 14001, which is a family of standards related to environmental management. It helps companies minimize any negative impact on the environment, comply with laws, regulations and other environmental requirements and continually improve in these areas.

As part of the team that worked on achieving this accreditation, I was amazed at the amount of awareness that this process promoted throughout our plant and our employees. By becoming aware of ways to reduce waste in one area, our people were motivated to look for opportunities to conserve in other departments, plant processes and even at home.

It’s amazing how working toward this certification empowered our employees to become conservationists. Once plant personnel were aware that I was part of the team working toward ISO 14001, they brought a wealth of ideas to my attention. I was asked if we recycled cans, ink cartridges and lots of other items that were beyond our initial thinking.

I think that speaks volumes about the certification’s relevance to everyone. Conserving what we have is not only good for the environment, it’s good for business. We learned that there are many waste streams that we can be paid for instead of paying someone else to dispose of them. Cardboard and polymer waste are two great examples. Through our initial “dumpster dive”, where we literally looked at all the things we throw away in a week’s time, we uncovered many waste streams that we were able to reduce, conserve or sell.

Now, I notice people conserving not because it’s a requirement, but because they care about it and it’s the right thing to do. During the process, our registrar interviewed more than 30 employees, and they discovered a lot of engagement and pride that the process helped promote. They were amazed by all the different ways that employees answered a question like, “How does your job impact the environment?”

The team that helped work our way through the requirements did an excellent job. It was a lot of hard work over months and months. But a lot of credit also goes to our employees who helped make the project their own. Many of them will carry this newfound awareness home and expand on our sacred company principle, “Be a proactive steward of the environment.” The impact is clear to our people, our community and the world at large.

You can view our certification and get more details  on all of our ISO accreditations on our website.

Darwin Brown

Quality Manager, Americhem Inc.