What makes Borroughs an environmentally responsible corporation?

Being considered an environmentally responsible company requires a long-term commitment to environmentally responsible practices—an area Borroughs excels in.  Borroughs takes pride in real environmental results, as well as our future environmental initiatives.  Twice awarded Kalamazoo’s Department of Public Services Industry Excellence award¹, we are additionally one of the few organizations in North America to receive an ISO 14001 Certification².

Innovative green technology
For decades, Borroughs has been investing in green technology to protect air quality and reduce pollution in our region of operation.  Each year since 2002, our innovative paint-reclamation technology has prevented thousands of pounds of waste paint  from amassing in a landfill by reformulating it into other colors—all VOC-free.  The success of this unique technology can be seen in a number of different facilities today, including a prominent ivy-league University Book Depository’s high-density book storage facility. 

New approaches to traditional recycling challenges
What do businesses do every year with the tons of unusable packaging materials, or “dunnage?”³

Because managing dunnage adds a significant burden to operational costs, Borroughs has partnered with one of the USA’s largest online retailers to create a program that reuses dunnage: A program environmentally friendly, economically viable – and sustainable.  We have developed new ways to reuse packaging materials, effectively:

Evolving with alternative energy sources
Integrating renewable energy sources into manufacturing processes can be a challenging task.⁵  Borroughs has conducted several feasibility studies and determined that the most viable alternative energy solution available to us is solar power.  We are currently working with a solar panel developer to add solar panels to our manufacturing facility’s powder coating system in our efforts to show real environmental results.

Getting a lift from energy saving technology
In addition to solar energy, Borroughs has adopted other energy-saving technologies as well—like the new charging systems for our forklifts⁶– a change that has reduced power consumption costs by 40%. 

Borroughs is also currently quoting new lighting systems for our entire manufacturing facility, with hopes of further reducing energy demands and power costs.

Picking up on the fundamentals
Sometimes, some of the best solutions for protecting the environment are in plain sight.  For decades, Borroughs has maintained recycling programs that encompass everything from recycling paper and office waste, to aerosol and beverage containers.  We recycle even the pallets we use.

Continued dedication
“Standing up as a corporation that is dedicated to protecting the environment means you can never stand still in your pursuit of new and more sustainable manufacturing processes,” says Tim Tyler, President of the Borroughs Corporation.  

“At the Borroughs Corporation, we are continually looking for new ways to lessen our company’s impact on the environment.  This also assures our customers that the products they buy from Borroughs are coming from a environmentally responsible source.”

The Borroughs Corporation Environmental Policy underscores our long-term dedication to maintaining a strong, pro-environmental position.⁷  The proof of this dedication can be seen every day in our incorporation of new technologies:  from our paint reclamation process to our dunnage reuse program; from the study and integration of renewable solar energy in manufacturing, to the upgrading of our forklift power systems and review of our lighting system’s power consumption.

Borroughs’ green initiatives do set the standard for the filing and storage manufacturing industry.  Those who care about real corporate environmental responsibility can expect to see us leading the way in the future as well.

Webology/Footnotes:
¹ 2002, 2004, Wastewater Division: “For outstanding cooperation and compliance with local, state and federal pretreatment regulations.”

² ISO 14000/14001 Certifications: specifying requirements for the environmental management of the operations an organization has control or influence over.  http://www.ehso.com/EHSservices/iso14new.htm

³ Wisegeek definition of dunnage
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-dunnage.htm

⁴ United States Department of Agriculture / Forestry Products
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/

⁵ Alternate Energy Systems / Michigan 
http://www.aesmichigan.com/

⁶ Measuring Energy Efficient Improvements in Industrial Battery Chargers
http://repository.tamu.edu/bitstream/handle/1969.1/91085/ESL-IE-09-05-32.pdf?sequence=1

⁷ Borroughs Corporation Environmental Policy
http://www.borroughs.com/Other/EnvironmentalPolicy.aspx