Project Final Report
Project Title:
Name/phone:
Facility Name:
Facility address:
Contact person:
Waste Stream Analysis
Judith Forbes/603-772-6849(home)
603-862-5544(campus)
Textron Automotive Interiors
Industrial Park
P.O. Box 1504
Dover, N.H. 03821-1504
Mr. David A. Labbe
Recycling Operations Coordinator
phone: 603-755-4200 ext. 2524
fax: 603-755-4825
Executive Summary
My Internship project for Textron In Dover was to do a Waste Stream Analysis of
the plant concerning the production area. I was told that this plant throws out about 7
million LBS of waste each year, and that it was my job to figure out what the waste was
composed of. The question I was to answer was, where is this 7 million LBS coming
from?
Over the course of about 8 weeks I was able to collect all the data I needed to be
able to write up summaries of the plant to clearly explain what was going out in the waste
stream. The last two weeks of the internship my efforts were to get a recycling program
started in Dover which compared closely to that of the Farmington facility. I visited the
Farmington facility and observed their recycling system. I was very impressed at how
clean and organized the plant was. There was so much that was saved and recycled that
over here in Dover, was just being throw away. They stripped scrap parts, regrinded foam
and PVC, saved plastic bags, stretch wrap an much more. Instead of paying money to
throw these materials out, they were making money by selling it to eager buyers!
I figured, if it can be done in Farmington, then it can be in Dover as well. The
only problem is that the Dover plant does not have the recycling equipment that the
Farmington facility has. That problem is easily solved by simply sending our material to
Farmington instead.
The recycling program in Dover is off to a good start. It will just take time for the
people to get familiar with the new system of disposing waste. I expect our yields for
recyclable material to grow greater as time goes on until it becomes a regular part of
everyone's routine.
Introduction/Background
My Internship project for Textron In Dover was to do a Waste Stream Analysis of
the plant concerning the production area. I was told that this plant throws out about 7
million LBS of waste each year, and that it was my job to figure out what the waste was
composed of. The question I was to answer was, æwhere is this 7 million LBS coming
from?
Goals and Objectives
In doing this project I ultimately wanted to figure out what the big things were that
Textron was throwing away that would be more beneficial to recycle rather than dispose
of. Reducing, reusing and recycling waste is beneficial not only environmentally but
economically as well. Instead of paying money to get rid of waste, why not make money
by selling it to buyers? And one can also know that they are helping the environment at
the same time.
My objective was to see how much waste was given off when a particular part
was made. By knowing the yearly production rate, and the waste given of for each
particular part, I was able to estimate how much waste would be made in a years time.
The waste given off when a part is made is considered a possible candidate for recycling.
Its yearly yield depends on production rate. Other waste that was generated that was
considered non-recyclable waste did not depend on production rate, but rather a daily rate.
Non-recyclable waste includes personal trash, cloths, cups, filters, etc. I wanted to get a
general estimate of how much waste is going to be made in a year, and categorize it as
best I could.
Estimates of how much of each recyclable material will be made can help those at
Textron plan on how to handle these materials.
Approach and Methodology
I approached the waste stream analysis by examining the waste in each area of the
plant. The plant is broken up into specific areas. There is Injection Molding, Paint
Stations, Foaming Lines and the McNeil Ovens. Before I started, I needed to obtain a
sales plan for 1995. I needed to know what parts were going to be made as well as their
yearly projections. I first started with Injection Molding and obtained a list of what parts
were made there. In Injection Molding the materials they use to make parts includes
mainly hard plastics and some PVC vinyl. I went around to each of the stations and
collected the waste given of when a part was made. I wrote down what material was
being used and what the weight of waste was for each individual part.
After Injection, I moved on to the Paint Lines. The paint lines produce hazardous
waste and non-hazardous waste, each of which I dealt with separately. The hazardous
waste part was easy, I got information on what was sent out for hazardous waste over the
course of a six month period. I doubled this to get a yearly estimate. As for the nonhazardous waste which included paint sludge, filters, cans, etc.; I weighed the waste over
the course of a few days to obtain an estimate of how much would be made in a year.
Then came the Foam Lines. I found out what parts were made in each of the foam
lines, and determined how much foam was trimmed off per part. I weighed the part
before it was foamed and after it was foamed and trimmed. By knowing the weight of
how much foam was shot into the part, I could subtract the difference to obtain the weight
of foam trimmed of. How much foam is trimmed off in a years time is based on
production rate. Foam that comes from purging does not depend on production rate
though. Foam purge accounts for the same, if not more so than the foam weight trimmed
off the parts. (The purging of the foam occurs quite often at the foam lines for various
reasons).
Lastly came the McNeil Ovens. Their waste consists of large quantities of PVC
vinyl as well as some miscellaneous trash. Again I found out what parts were made at the
McNeil Ovens; I obtained the shot weights of each part and subtracted the weight of the
trimmed part to see how much PVC was being wasted.
Once all my data was collected I estimated the yearly waste factoring in
production rates or daily average depending on what the waste pertained to.
Chemical usage, Equipment needs
The only substances I can relate any chemical usage I had at the plant was those
chemicals that might have been in water based or oil based paint, super glue, mineral
spirits, and once I used MEK.
The equipment needs I had here included, an on line and a PC computer,
telephone, weighing scales, and a manual lift.
Releases/wastes generated at the facility
From what information I gathered, the non-hazardous wastes generated at the
facility included, Injection Molding's hard plastics and soft vinyls, foam, PVC, metal,
cardboard, paint, plastic bags, microfoam sheets, scrap parts, and miscellaneous trash.
Their hazardous waste included; MEK, trichloroethylene, waste oil, regulate medical
waste, waste water, ethylene glycol, non-d.o.t. regulated dye liquid, waste related
material, waste flammable liquid, water based paint, polyol, waste aerosols, and waste
petroleum distillates.
I was able to accomplish my goal of obtaining estimates on how much of what
material was being produced in a years time. The last three weeks of my internship I was
able to get a recycling program going which was similar to what the Farmington facility
was doing. I was given an area in the plant where I could set up a recycling station. I
painted signs on the walls, made name plaques for the materials, and organized the area
appropriately.
I set up designated areas to collect such things as; black foam, white foam (2
kinds), black foam/PVC mix, microfoam sheets, plastic bags, metal rivet stems, office
paper, and corrugated cardboard; (PVC already had a designated area). I with help from a
man named Chris VanDoorn got the word out to everyone about what they needed to start
recycling. Monitoring the areas on a regular basis was and still is required to keep people
recycling what they are supposed to. There are many people who throw out what they are
not supposed to as well as those who contaminate the designated areas with various
items.
The first week of when the recycling program was started, I weighed how much of
each type of material was coming into the recycling area. I compared what we were
getting to what I estimated was being made. This let me know approximately what
percentage of each material we were currently getting based on what we could possibly
get.
I then used this information and completed my plant and line summaries
concerning the waste stream analysis.
Pollution prevention benefits
The purpose of doing the waste stream analysis was to see what materials
contributed to the waste stream and to what amounts. To start a recycling system going
you need to have a feel for what it is you are dealing with. When the costs and the
quantities are known, you can then prioritize the course of action.
The actual pollution prevention benefits of this analysis came when I started the
recycling program going. Instead of throwing the various materials away, the people
were to put them in their designated areas for recycling. These materials were then sent
out to be separated, regrinded, and or compacted for reuse at some later date. By reusing
or reselling you have actually reduced your waste (pollution) and contributed positively to
the environment.
References
Many people in the plant helped me and answered many of the questions I needed
to get my job done. Some of the key people who helped me were the following:
1) Dave Labbe explained what the objectives of my project was and helped me get
focused in the right direction on how I might want to approach the project. He was able
to tell me what materials were currently being saved as well as what materials eventually
could be.
2) Will Getchell who was the P2 Intern at Farmington last year and did a waste stream
analysis there gave me some pointers on what I should be concerned with. He also
explained what he did and made some suggestion on what I should do.
3) Linda Sunderland gave me the 1995 Sales Plan for the Dover facility which stated the
name of the part and how many of them would be made this year.
4) Chris VanDoorn helped me a great deal with the recycling program. Since he has
worked here for 10 years he knows who's who so he was able to get me in touch with the
right people. He helped me weigh materials, get signs made, and get the word out about
the recycling program.
5) Doug Ford gave me information on what materials in Injection Molding were
reground and which were thrown out.
6) And many other people helped me in many ways by answering questions I had about
certain things.
Appendices
My suggestions for people who might do this same project in the future are as
follows; Make sure you talk to lots of people. Do not be afraid to ask questions. Little
things people might say to you can greatly change your course of action. Most of the
people you will run into have worked there a much longer time and they know many
things that could easily be overlooked by a new comer.
Plan a reasonable set of actions for yourself. Do not look at the project as one big
problem at first. Try to break it up into sections and try to solve each problem separately;
it will make it clearer and more accurate. Do not lose your focus and what the objective
of your project is.