GE Recognizes Evonik Canada’s Gibbons Site For Reducing Annual Waste By 15%

General Electric (GE) Power & Water has recognized Evonik Canada’s Gibbons plant for successfully recycling 15% of the site’s waste streams into the facility’s steam generation system.

For its efforts – and for saving CA$50,000 in annual costs – the site received GE’s prestigious “Proof Not Promises” and “Return On Environment” awards.

“We are proud to recognize Evonik Canada’s hard work and continuous efforts in creating more sustainable operations,” said Calvin Schmaltz, Heartlands regional manager of Water and Process Technologies at GE Power & Water. “We worked with Evonik Canada to develop an innovative process that recycles waste and generates annual cost savings. We established these two awards to encourage collaboration between our specialists and customers in our belief that operations and sustainability should go together.”

Employees at the Gibbons site worked with specialists from GE Power & Water to implement a new method of re-using waste streams without negatively impacting the environment or the site.

“This is an incredible accomplishment from not only an environmental standpoint but from an economic perspective as well, showing how serious Evonik Canada is about sustainability,” said Thomas Rieche, who heads Evonik’s Active Oxygens business line. “Close collaboration such as this allows companies to combine their resources, drive results and bring better products to customers. Working closely with other companies inspires innovation. Our project with GE is the perfect example of this.”

In order to receive GE’s “Return on Environment” award, a project must deliver a significant and lasting positive impact on the environment along with annual cost savings of at least CA$50,000. The “Proof Not Promises” award recognizes novel and creative collaborative projects that achieve a savings greater than CA$25,000.

“I am very proud of the Gibbons team for successfully implementing this new process to recycle waste,” said Jack Chenault, vice president and general manager, Americas for Evonik’s Active Oxygens business line. “Protecting the environment and developing new methods to enhance our sustainability efforts are always top priorities for Evonik Canada. The employees at Gibbons did a great job demonstrating exactly what these awards represent.”

Evonik Canada’s Gibbons site produces hydrogen peroxide, an environmentally-friendly chemical used for oxidation reactions, bleaching processes in pulp, paper and textile industries, waste water treatment, exhaust air treatment and for various disinfection applications. Decomposing to yield only oxygen and water, hydrogen peroxide is one of the cleanest, most versatile chemicals available.

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