Award Ceremony to Highlight Pollution Prevention Conference

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) and Indiana Partners for Pollution Prevention will present their 11th annual conference focus on linking pollution prevention activities with lean business practices on Wednesday, September 17, 2008, at Primo’s Conference Center in Plainfield, Ind.  Governor’s Awards for Environmental Excellence will be presented for operations demonstrating extraordinary environmental stewardship.

Open to all Indiana facilities, state and local units of government, individuals and other groups  that support environmental protection efforts, award categories include Five-Year Continuous Improvement, Energy/Renewable Resources and Pollution Prevention.

This year’s recipients include:

Five-year Continuous Improvement

• - Frito Lay, Inc., Frankfort; and,
• - Reike Packaging Systems, Auburn.

Energy/Renewable Resources

• - General Motors Powertrain, Bedford; and,
• - Rieth Village, Wolf Lake.

Pollution Prevention

• - City of Carmel Utilities, Carmel;
• - Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis; 
• - Jeffboat, LLC, Jeffersonville;
• - Monaco Coach, Wakarusa; and,
• - Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana, Princeton.

“I strongly encourage manufacturers to attend this conference so they can learn more about how lean manufacturing and pollution prevention can go hand in hand to realize environmental improvements,” said IDEM Commissioner Thomas Easterly. “The winners of this year’s Governor’s Awards for Environmental Excellence have achieved their remarkable results due to diligence and strategic planning. They are to be commended for a job well done.”

“Lean on P2” is the conference theme and is sponsored by the Indiana Partners for Pollution Prevention (Partners), an offshoot of the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM).  Speakers include Richard Guimond, Vice President of Environment, Health and Safety at Carrier Corporation, who will present on “Using Lean and P2 at Carrier Corporation,” and Laura Pyzik, United States Environmental Protection Agency, who will present “Seeing All the Wastes – Achieving Environmental Savings Through Lean Implementation.” Additional topics include: “Common Sense Manufacturing,” “City of West Lafayette – Going Green;” “Putting the ‘E’ Into Lean,” “Focusing on Performance-Based Programs for Environmental Management,” “Reduction of Copper Levels in Wastewater at DePuy Orthopaedics,” “Using Lean and P2 to Drive Environmental Improvements,” “Greening Your Suppliers,” and “Zero Discharge.”

IDEM created the Partners for Pollution Prevention in 1996 to assist industries in sharing pollution prevention experiences and to advise IDEM on pollution prevention policies and programs. Partners is composed of manufacturers, not for profit organizations, institutions, and government agencies invested in promoting pollution prevention efforts in Indiana. The 53 organizations currently members of the Partners have shown a proven interest in promoting and developing pollution prevention programs to achieve measurable reductions in pollution in Indiana. 

Registration and additional conference information can be found at http://www.IN.gov/idem/4451.htm, or contact Cara Cyrus at (812) 273-6000 or cara.cyrus@madchem.com.                  

Source: Indiana Department of Environmental Management