Kimball Office Recognized For Sustainable Action

Kimball Office announces that its two Indiana manufacturing facilities (in Jasper and Salem) have been accepted into the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s (IDEM) Environmental Stewardship Program (ESP). The program recognizes companies for demonstrating long-term compliance with environmental laws and voluntarily agreeing to implement continuous improvements in sustainability.

“It is an honor for our Jasper and Salem facilities to be recognized for their consistent and continual efforts with our environmental management system,” said Jeff Fenwick, vice president and general manager for Kimball Office, following a presentation by IDEM officials.

Kimball Office’s manufacturing facilities earned this recognition by surpassing IDEM’s environmental regulatory guidelines. Kimball Office, Jasper has eliminated 51,593 pounds of solid waste, since 2008 by encouraging vendors to reduce packaging use and decreasing scrap from its cut-to-size operations. Kimball Office, Salem has reduced its solid waste by more than 47%, or 218,420 pounds, since 2007.

How They’ve Done It
To accomplish this, the company reduced its hand sanding processes, thereby reducing paper waste, and switched to an ultraviolet (UV) light-cure flat-line finish process that replaced the old-style manual spray finish process. Kimball Office, Salem also implemented a return-to-vendor process for inbound materials packaging. Employees at both of the Kimball Office facilities have been encouraged to look for additional opportunities to reduce waste.

“Kimball Office has certainly earned its place as a new ESP member,” said IDEM Commissioner Thomas Easterly. ESP members voluntarily eliminate waste, preserve resources and protect their employees and the environment. The ESP is recognition for going beyond the basic requirements of the law.

Rhonda Scherer, safety and environmental manager for Kimball Office-Jasper, said, “This recognition is a tribute to the type of commitment and effort put forth by all of our Kimball Office employees to support actions that improve our environmental record and performance. Our employees have shown that good environmental management is also good for business.”

Shawn McCormick, safety and environmental manager for the company’s Salem location, added, “[Our] commitment to provide customers with the highest quality products is combined with the commitment to respect and protect the environment.”

To become an ESP member, a business must maintain an exemplary compliance record, certify that it has adopted and implemented an approved environmental management system, and commit to specific measures for continued improvement in its environmental performance. To maintain ESP membership, companies must report on their environmental initiatives every year and reapply for ESP membership every three years.


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