As editor of Thermoformer Vantage Plastics of Standish, Mich., was honored last week for its sustainability efforts. According to this story from The Bay City Times, the company "devised a system that uses radiator water from engines that drive vacuum pumps and air compressors to heat the company's 5,000-square-foot front office in the winter."
The honor came from the U.S. Department of Energy, which gave the company a Save Energy Now award for "exemplary energy saving accomplishments."
Darrell Tiedeman, Vantage Plastic's vice president of sales and marketing, told the newspaper that an engineer at the firm came up with the idea, and worked with experts from the University of Michigan to design the system.
Now the system saves the company about $500 a month in the winter.
I surfed around the Department of Energy's Web site and found some reports on plastics companies that have undergone plant assessments on their energy usage. Check them out for suggestions to help make your plant more sustainable.