Minneapolis, MN, January 30, 2007--Tennant Co has been chosen by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency/Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance to receive a Governor’s Award for Excellence in Waste and Pollution Prevention.
The award, which will be presented at the Minnesota Air, Water, and Waste Environmental Conference on February 28, honors superior environmental achievement by Minnesota businesses that have developed innovative practices that prevent pollution and waste, improve resource efficiency, and lead to sustainability.
Tennant is primarily being recognized for its proven waste and pollution accomplishments at its own facilities, including reducing:
-hazardous raw materials usage by 2,200 pounds;
-non-hazardous raw materials usage by 1,275,046 pounds;
-water usage by 3.7 million gallons;
-energy usage by 264,800 kWh/2.7 billion Btu;
-hazardous waste by 2,200 pounds;
-solid waste by 49,316 pounds;
-air emissions by 24,440 pounds;
-water pollutants by 35,860 pounds; and
-related company expenses by more than $1,450,000.
Tennant is also being recognized for helping its customers reduce or prevent pollution and waste through its product technologies such as ReadySpace technology, which reduces waste water, mold, allergens, and odors; FaST foam scrubbing technology, which uses 70 percent less water and 90 percent less detergent that traditional automatic floor scrubbers; and Eco-Advantage floor coatings, which are virtually odor free and use less solvent.
“I think everyone at Tennant is extremely proud of this recognition and proud of the steps the company has taken and continues to take in creating cleaner, safer, healthier places to live, work, and play,” said Mike Reznicek, Tennant’s paint process improvement engineer who, with the assistance of Deb McKinley of the Minnesota Technical Assistance Program at the University of Minnesota, was responsible for bringing Tennant’s environmental sustainability successes to the attention of the MPCA.
According to Reznicek, Tennant has many more eco-friendly projects in the works, including recovering oven energy to reduce 64,000 therms and save $46,000; controlling efficiency of unit heaters to reduce 22,000 therms and save $15,900; adding an on-site water heater to reduce 11,000 therms and save $3,800; periodically sealing the painting environmental room to reduce up to 3,350 therms and save up to $2,400; and discontinuing heat in the receiving dock to reduce 13,000 therms and save $9,400.
“Tennant has a corporate commitment to being ‘clean, lean, and green,’” said Reznicek. “To fulfill that commitment, we need to continually assess our processes and procedures and maintain a position of environmental leadership.”
