This facility manufactures Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) of various thicknesses by layering sheets of veneer with resin and bonding those materials under heat and pressure. The resulting materials are then sawn into various lengths.
LP Wilmington is located approximately 2 miles north of the City of Wilmington, North Carolina on U.S. Highway 421 North. The site is generally rectangular with the long axis oriented east-to-west, and is located in an industrial corridor primarily surrounded by industrial property with widely scattered residential dwellings. The east boundary of the site is the Northeast Cape Fear River, the west boundary is US highway 421 North, and the north and south boundaries are industrial sites. The property is in a non-wooded sandy area with minimal topographic relief. Access to the property is directly off U.S. Highway 421 North. The facility consists of 14 acres on which the production buildings are located, 10 acres of outside storage where finished, wrapped product is stored prior to shipping, and 7.5 acres of property immediately adjacent to the mill that is leased, also for outside product storage. The mill currently has 165 employees and operates 24 hours per day, 5 days per week.
The data in this goal reflect all non-hazardous waste and recyclable material generated across the entire faciltiy. The facility continued efforts to reduce all solid waste including non-hazardous wste and recyclable materials. We continued recycling efforts by continuing to recycle wood waste and aluminum cans instead of sending it to solid waste. In addition efforts continued to reduce solid waste generation by improving production yield, and segregating recyclable materials. Alos, wood waste recycling and landfilled solid waste decreased as a result of improved yield. By producing product more efficiently, less wood waste and less landfill material were generated. Although the facility significantly reduced total non-hazardous waste managed, due to a significant reduction in production as a result of a poor market for products, the normalization of waste reduction to production makes these reductions appear less significant.
All waste and recycled materials are weighed for the purpose of calculating payments due or payments received. These data are collected and reported monthly.
Tons of I-joists and LVL produced.
The primary result of this goal was to eliminate a particular water use. This was accomplished in the first year of this Performance Track membership term. We use only very small amounts of water in our production process for cleaning purposes. Our primary water use is for domestic type use and fire fighting. We have been unable to identify any other areas where we can reduce our water consumption however, we have been steadily reducing our overall water use. This is most likely a result of reducing our number of employees due to efficiencies gained in the manufacturing process and to a significant reduction in production as a result of a poor market for products.
The local water utility reads the water meters monthly and invoices us for the amount of water used. We report water use directly from the invoice. Although it appears that the water utility rounds the usage number the nearest thousand gallons, this is the most accurate number we have to report. All water is assumed used since we have no recycling water (almost all water is used for domestic purposes and is disposed via a septic system and associated leach field).
As discussed in our 2006 Performance Track Annual Report, a great deal of work was completed on our compresssed air system, and on our sawdust collection and conveyance system in late 2006 to make them more efficient. In 2007 we observed a significant reduction in electricity consumption. Again, due to significantly lower production the normalized reduction does not appear as significant. Our original goal was to reduce electricity use by 5%. We achieved an absolute electricity reduction of over 17%. Therefore, although we did not meet the Performance Track goal of overall energy use reduction, we far exceded our electricity use reduction goal.
The data for all types of energy used at the facility are collected on a monthly basis from use or delivery invoices, and recorded. For electricity, the local electric utility reads the electric meters monthly and invoices us for the amount of electricity used. We report electricity use directly from the invoice. Although it appears that the electric utility rounds the usage number the nearest 50 kWh, this is the most accurate number we have to report.
This goal is reporitng on only wrapping paper used at this facility. We have continued to work with the operations folks at our mill to reduce the number of sizes of wrapping paper, thus the overall quantity of plastic tube cores that are delivered to the mill. We explored the possibility of returning the plastic cores to the wrapping paper vendor for re-use, but they will not accept them back. We have continued to search for a recycler that can take this material. To date we have not identified such a recycler, but are still continuing to explore this option. We have tried to identify a secondary use of these plastic cores but have not yet found such an option, however we are also continuing to explore this option. Until we are able to locate another avenue for disposal of this material all of the material received becomes solid waste.
The supplier of our wrapping paper provides a summary of total wrapping paper, by size, that our facility received in 2007. The information is provided as linear feet of wrapping paper of each different size that we used. Based on the known number of linear feet per core we calculate the number of cores of each size that we received during the year. We have measured the cores to determine the weight per linear inch of a core. With this data we calculate the total weight of cores received at the mill during the year.
Most of the employees at our facility live in the surrounding community. If there is a community concern the employees typically bring that concern to the attention of Facility Management. In addition, we are physically very visible, as we are located on a major highway in a large building with our name and logo prominently displayed. We occasionally get calls from surrounding neighbors with environmental or health and safety questions, which we address in person or via a phone call.
One concern regarding excessive noise was raised during the past year from a local resident. The Plant Environmental Manager contacted this individual to obtain the details. This complaint lead mill personnel to discover a piece of equipment that was malfunctioning and creating the excessive noise. The equipment was repaired and the excessive noise eliminated. The Plant Environmental Manager followed up with the individual that had raised the issue, who said the noise was eliminated and there were no further issues with the facility.
We informed the public about environmental matters related to our faility by personal telephone calls when appropriate; by training and informing the employees at the facility, who are also members of the community, regarding environmental matters; and by submitting the required EPCRA Tier 2 and Tier 3 reports. We do not have a commuity action committee, and do not voluntarily contact members of the surrounding community, since we are in an industrial corridor, not a residential area.