CONTACT: Mark McDermid, DNR, 608-267-3125
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources formally welcomed Hutchinson Technology Incorporated Eau Claire facility into Wisconsin’s Green Tier program today.
Hutchinson Technology Incorporated (HTI) is a key manufacturer of suspension assemblies for disk drives. These precise, electro-mechanical components hold a disk drive’s recording head at microscopic distances above a hard drive disk. The company’s suspension assemblies help customers improve yields, increase reliability and enhance disk drive performance.
Mark McDermid, DNR director of the cooperative environmental assistance bureau, was on-site to officially welcome the facility into the program. He congratulated the company and its 800 Eau Claire employees on their efforts to reduce the environmental impacts of the operation and their willingness to commit to ongoing efforts in overall environmental protection through increased recycling, energy efficiency and pollution prevention.
“We are proud to include Hutchinson Technology in the Green Tier program,” said McDermid. “We look forward to our role as a partner in improving environmental performance while adding to Hutchinson Technology’s bottom line as they find ways to bring new business to their Eau Claire facility.”
Aggressive energy reduction efforts over the past four years have reduced HTI Eau Claire operating costs by over $3 million. The energy saved over this period:
• Could have heated and powered 5,000 homes.
• Is equivalent to 15,500 tons of coal.
• Prevented 94,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) from being released into the atmosphere.
Staff continues to come up with innovative ideas for further improvements every year. In 2011 HTI diverted nearly 80 percent of all solid wastes from landfills through recycling and waste reduction efforts. The Eau Claire site has decreased its waste hauling trips to the landfill by 86 percent. This led to approximately $193,000 in avoided costs and receivables for the materials recycled. The greatest impact came from the increase in plastics recycling from 21 tons in 2008 to 430 tons in 2011, with some of the material being manufactured by other companies into fishing tackle boxes.
“The Green Tier program augments our efforts to strive for excellence in our environmental performance,” said Bernie Stolarz, Environmental Safety Engineer, Hutchinson Technology Incorporated, Eau Claire. “We are pleased to be participating in the program and will continue our long-standing commitment to being a responsible steward of our environment.”
Wisconsin’s Green Tier program is the first of its kind in the nation. Green Tier encourages businesses and other organizations to voluntarily collaborate with DNR to move beyond compliance with regulations and to achieve superior environmental performance. To participate, an applicant must have a good environmental record, commit to exceeding environmental minimums and implement an internationally accredited Environmental Management System. Green Tier enables good environmental actors to perform even better and recognizes their work. This allows DNR to focus its resources on those facilities that need greater attention and assistance in meeting environmental requirements.
HTI is participating in Tier 1 of the program, which is designed to encourage new goal setting and innovation. In exchange for a commitment to superior environmental performance, the DNR grants benefits to Tier 1 participants including a single point of contact with the department for easier communications and collaboration. Under Tier 2, qualified businesses and associations make binding commitments to superior environmental performance. In exchange, these businesses are given incentives proportional to their environmental commitments.
Green Tier participation has grown throughout Wisconsin’s business community in recent years as more companies have found business value through greater environmental performance.
More information on Green Tier and Hutchinson Technology’s involvement is available on the DNR website.
