Montana Businesses Say Pollution Prevention Pays

BOZEMAN -- Pollution prevention pays. That's the message from several Montana businesses who are adopting waste reduction strategies in their work places.

It's easy to adopt these practices, says Randy McCleskey of Helena Chrysler Nissan, because they make "good business sense."

McCleskey, the company's parts and service manager, began searching for alternatives to some of the hazardous solvents used for cleaning, de-greasing, lubrication and other purposes. He turned to MSU Extension's Pollution Prevention Program, also called the "P2" program, which suggested he consider less hazardous citrus-based solvents. By replacing the standard solvents with the less toxic ones, the dealership substantially reduced its disposal costs and created a safer work environment.

"Because the citrus-based solvents can be re-used, we were able to cut our disposal costs in half," says McCleskey, who has also implemented the innovations at the Capital Ford Toyota dealership in Helena. On a roll, the companies also began recycling anti-freeze and other materials.

"Once we got involved, we found a lot of ways to minimize waste," says McCleskey.

Garlick Helicopters, a Hamilton-based helicopter rebuilding and repair business, used information and assistance from the program, based at MSU-Bozeman, to make its workplace more environmentally friendly.

As a business that uses a lot of solvents, de-greasers and other hazardous materials, "our company was under the gun" to comply with federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules and environmental standards, says Bob Wolf, the company's director of marketing and environmental safety.

After a visit by an Extension pollution prevention specialist, the company began to eliminate safety hazards and replace certain hazardous chemicals with environmentally friendly and bio-degradable materials. It stopped using lead-based paint, began recycling paint thinner and other materials, and implemented safety training, says Wolf.

"We corrected roughly 70 deficiencies in our company," says Wolf, who also credits the Montana Safety Bureau and the departments of Labor and Industry, and Environmental Quality for providing helpful information. "We came farther in a shorter period of time than any other company we know of in meeting our environmental and safety goals."

The improvements helped "raise the morale of our people immensely," he says. "If we hadn't done this, we could have faced fines."

Rocky Mountain Furniture Restoration in Bozeman also faced possible fines for storage of hazardous strippers and thinners. Owner Steve Parker had been searching for a machine to recycle and re-use the stripping solvents -- as an alternative to sending drums of the material to a hazardous waste treatment facility. However, most of the recycling machines he researched could not guarantee they would do an effective job. He sought information from the P2 Program, and was eventually able to find a recycling machine that worked to recycle his waste to a usable product.

He paid $1700 for the machine a few years ago, and since then he figures he has saved over $16,700 in disposal costs. Also, his annual outlay of about $5,000 for lacquer thinner and stripper was cut in half.

"By reducing waste at the source, businesses will save money in the long run," says Mike Vogel, who heads the P2 program, which he started in 1992. "Usually, the payback is pretty fast, sometimes within a year."

"It's easier and cheaper to use materials or practices that generate little or no waste," he says. "When that's not possible, recycling is the next best thing.

That's the case for the Kalispell Daily Interlake.

"We used to trash all our waste paper and chemicals used in printing," says Ed Dickman, the Interlake's press manager. "Now there's a market for it. We're getting paid for the paper."

A local recycler, Pacific Iron and Steel, provides the Interlake with cardboard boxes. "We fill the boxes with our waste paper, and they pick up and bale the paper for shipment to paper mills," Dickman says. Even the cardboard wrappers and core for the paper are recycled.

The Interlake also recovers the silver from their film and sells it to a silver supplier for a "few thousand dollars a year," says Dickman, who credits the P2 Program with helping the company start their recycling program.

Boss Printing in Glendive had adopted a recycling program years ago, but were unsure whether their methods of disposing of non-recycled items were legal. They got "peace of mind" by learning from the P2 Program that they were in compliance.

"There are so many opportunities for businesses to prevent waste and some are very simple," says P2's Todd MacFadden. He and Lara Dando, the program's two pollution prevention technical specialists, do free on-site visits and provide technical assistance to small businesses. The program's waste reduction handbook also provides companies with additional ideas.

Sometimes just taking the first step will spur a company to even greater waste elimination. After Helena Chrysler Nissan successfully switched to less hazardous solvents, it purchased an anti-freeze recycling machine, which allowed them to re-use the product in their service department. "You can dump anti-freeze, but that's not the right thing to do. We recycle it and use what we recycle in cars that we service," says McCleskey.

The company installed an air vacuum system to remove indoor pollutants, and recycles pop cans, computer paper and cardboard. It has also installed energy efficient lighting throughout the company.

For its efforts, the company received the Small Business Administration's Waste Minimization Award for 1995.

Since the company's success in waste reduction, it is now fielding questions from other car dealerships. "These businesses are looking at their bottom line. It's easy to sell ideas that are going to make them money," says Chrysler Nissan's McCleskey.