Dal-Tile Plant Earns Second Consecutive Zero Landfill Certification
Dal-Tile employees utilize the company’s recycling collection bin in maintaining their commitment to Zero Landfill efforts.
As a result of their Zero Landfill initiative, team members at Dal-Tile’s manufacturing plant in Muskogee, Oklahoma have kept more than 2,600 tons of waste and materials from ending up in the local landfill since 2014, maintaining the plant’s certification as a Zero Landfill facility originally obtained in October 2015.
“The focus of the Zero Landfill initiative at all of our manufacturing facilities is to minimize the environmental impact of manufacturing through resource conservation and waste reduction,” said Robert Hurt, director of environmental, health, and sustainability services for Dal-Tile Corporation. “We have implemented processes and projects to align with these goals in order to transform all process wastes into valuable resources and implement procedures for proper sorting and management of recyclables in our manufacturing facilities.”
“To obtain and maintain this achievement, it was all about changing the collective mindset and getting the entire facility involved, from leaders to new hires,” said Hurt. “This was accomplished in several ways.
First, the Muskogee team worked to make it more convenient to transfer and sort recyclables by clearly labeling disposal and recycling centers throughout the facility. Second, they prioritized discussions around recycling practices and goals at plant meetings to ensure the entire team was aligned and equipped with the knowledge and tools necessary for reaching the sustainability goals, and understood how to recycle this, and other common items.
Lastly, a weekly newsletter was developed and distributed to the plant employees that provided information about ways to recycle at work and at home. All of these initiatives helped change the culture to one where conservation is a natural part of each day.”
Four of the company’s other plants are also Zero Landfill certified.