Ferris State students see firsthand how zero waste works

Grand Rapids, Mich. — By showing how a major plastics manufacturer can achieve an ambitious zero-waste-to-landfill goal, Ferris State University hopes to generate more interest in its plastics degree programs.

In February, the university took nearly 50 students enrolled in the Introduction to Injection Molding class on a field trip to injection molder Cascade Engineering Inc. and recycler Bata Plastics Inc.

That was before the Big Rapids, Mich.-based school went to online-only classes at the end of spring break.

The idea behind the visit to the two Grand Rapids-based companies was to show students how Cascade managed to completely eliminate sending any of its waste to landfill. Ferris State had plans to duplicate the effort in its spring semester Introduction to Injection Molding class.

Professor Stephen Wolfer said Ferris State officials had noticed a dip in enrollment in its plastics program last fall, and they wondered if plastic bans and waste issues were discouraging prospective students from plastics careers.

“Unfortunately, the attempt to achieve zero plastic waste to landfill for the Introduction to Injection Molding class at Ferris State University is in a holding pattern,” Wolfer said, because of the coronavirus pandemic. “Hopefully, the university will be able to open its lab for the fall semester and we can continue this effort and achieve a positive result.”

Wolfer said Cascade donated six recycling bins for the Ferris State lab to store material, which will recycled at Bata Plastics, and Wittmann Battenfeld has committed to consigning a grinder for the school’s zero-waste effort.

On the field trip, students heard from Cascade Engineering officials including CEO Christina Keller, who highlighted the just-unveiled EcoCart, a trash can molded with 10 percent residential curbside plastic and bulky rigid plastic.

Sharon Darby, Cascade’s director of environmental, safety and sustainability, explained how the company first achieved its zero-waste goal in 2012. Cascade doesn’t just recycle its plastics scrap; the company recycles everything, from batteries to light bulbs to the dirty water left behind when it washes its fork lifts.

Samantha Thiessen, president of the Ferris State Chapter of the Society of Plastics Engineers, accompanied the Introduction to Injection Molding class on the field trip. She was impressed by what she saw at Cascade.

“Personally, I enjoyed seeing plastics and trash actually being recycled, but I was baffled that there was not a trash can in sight. I was impressed that Cascade was able to turn even their floor sweepings into some product. However, I would have liked to see the process happening to make the final product, so that I would have been able to connect some processing issues that Cascade had to knowledge I already learned at school,” Thiessen said.

She felt that young people may be deterred from considering careers in plastics, in part, because the media portrays plastics as being bad for the environment.

Thiessen and the other students on the tour all said that if they had to start their education again, they would stay with plastics engineering technology.

“It is a very rewarding major, and there are lots of different job opportunities for students out of college. Since our degree is a 100 percent job placement, Ferris teaches plastics very well as a technology degree,” Thiessen said.

Adam Everse, the previous president of the SPE chapter at Ferris State, also joined the field trip. While he would have preferred to see more running machinery during the tour of Cascade, he said the visit accomplished its goals.

“We were hoping to show students what actually happens to post-industrial recycled material; the tour accomplished just that. We followed the recycling stream from Cascade to Bata and saw what happens to it,” Everse said.