Manchester Tank Elkhart Awarded 2013 Indiana Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence

October 15, 2013

Manchester Tank & Equipment Company located in Elkhart, Indiana was recently awarded the 2013 Indiana Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence.  MTE Elkhart’s General Manager, Jill Drajer and Environmental Manager Steve Jacobson, attended the AISWMD annual conference on October 2, 2013 to accept the award on behalf of their entire team.

This award recognizes Indiana's leaders who have implemented outstanding environmental strategies in their operations and decision-making processes.  The award was presented to MTE Elkhart for the implementation of two unique initiatives: working with local customers to collect, return and reuse packaging material and blending their scrap powder paint with its standard ECO Gray color to be reused on some of their products.

The packaging and powder paint initiatives have diverted about 83,000 pounds of waste materials from the landfill and saved about $30,000.  The Elkhart facility has a history of encouraging team members to get involved in pollution prevention by suggesting ways to reduce waste materials and increasing recycling efforts.  As a team, Elkhart has implemented various programs which have enabled them to recycle or reuse multiple waste streams.  Of the three million plus pounds of waste generated at the facility in 2012, more than 89% was recycled or re-used.  Compared to 2006, the facility sends 250,000 pounds less waste to the landfill each year.

Congratulations to the Elkhart Team on a job well done!