Kenworth Truck Co. manufacturing plant in Renton, Wash., recently received a 2010 Best Workplace for Recycling and Waste Reduction Award from King County’s Solid Waste Division for Kenworth’s outstanding efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle.
“Kenworth is honored to receive this prestigious King County environmental award for the second consecutive year,” says Marilyn Santangelo, Kenworth assistant general manager for operations. “The Kenworth Renton plant remains committed to protecting the environment through conserving natural resources and waste reduction.”
“It is gratifying to receive this honor, which recognizes the diligent efforts of employees to reduce, reuse and recycle,” says Mike Clark, Kenworth-Renton plant manager. “For example, under the plant’s ambitious Zero Waste to Landfill program, we have already achieved a diversion away from landfills of nearly 80 percent of all materials through the use of recycling bins, returnable shipping containers, reduced packaging material and waste-stream segregation.”
Kenworth-Renton’s cafeteria continues to use food waste composting and sends waste to Cedar Grove Composting in Renton for recycling into usable compost. The plant’s latest major project focuses on reducing energy usage.
Kenworth-Renton also recently received a 2009 Gold Award from the King County Industrial Waste Program for compliance with the plant’s industrial wastewater discharge permit. The award recognizes the plant for one year of no wastewater violations of any kind covering discharge, permit, ordinance, reporting, self-monitoring and King County monitoring.
In addition, Kenworth’s plants in Renton and Chillicothe, Ohio, both have earned ISO 14001:2004 certification for effective environmental management systems established to help build Class 8 trucks in an environmentally sustainable manner. Kenworth’s medium-duty products are produced at the Paccar manufacturing facility in Ste. Therese, Que., which also holds ISO 14001:2004 status.
