Karla Wludyga
Case Western Reserve University - Weatherhead School of Management
Ron Fry
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Fairmount Santrol has reduced its solid waste from large scale shipping all the way down to the candy wrappers employees may throw away. A concerted effort to nearly eliminate packing materials in its rail and truck shipments has trickled down to a program of recycling and composting at its employee-based facilities that significantly reduces all solid waste. What cannot be recycled or composted is sent to a waste-to-energy plant.
Fairmount Santrol has 30 zero-waste facilities, meaning they have worked to eliminate garbage that goes to a landfill by implementing a program that combines recycling, composting, and sending other items to a waste-to-energy company, which converts the waste into fuel for producing steam-generated electricity.
The mission, vision, and culture at Fairmount Santrol embrace the principles of sustainable development at every level of the organization. In the spirit of continuous improvement and dedication to increasing its sustainable developments, the company successfully implemented several means of decreasing and eliminating its product packaging waste. Director of Sustainable Development Beau Daane said, “The key to creating a flourishing future is not only saving species or the planet but creating a world everyone wants to live in being part of the collective movement of business as an agent of world benefit.”
Since 2009 Fairmount Santrol has reduced its waste to the landfill by 94 percent. In 2014 that amounted to nearly 23,000 tons of waste diverted from the landfill. Additionally, the experience at work has led many Fairmount Santrol employees to begin similar practices, like composting, at home.
Fairmount Santrol ships 90 percent of its products via truck, train, or barge which requires no packaging. Most of the remaining eight percent of product shipments are in bulk packaging, and the company asks customers to recycle and reuse the product packaging. Through standardization of packaging for domestic plants, Fairmount Santrol generated more than $347,000 in SD Pays.*
*Recognizing that not all business benefits are tangible, Fairmount Santrol has started tracking the positive impact of its sustainable developments (SDs) through a tool it calls “SD Pays.” A committee calculates which projects create SD Pays, how to calculate project value, and SD-related expenses to calculate in the final project value. Tangible benefits are tracked in the company’s annual corporate social responsibility report.
Fairmount Santrol is dedicated to making investments in its employees, business partners, and communities through its commitment to “people, planet, and prosperity.” The company’s environmental stewardship programs not only secure its ability to operate today but also create a bright future the business and the communities where its Family Members live and work.
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Beau Daane, Director of Sustainable Development
Fairmount Santrol (NYSE: FMSA) is a leading provider of high-performance sand and sand-based products used by oil and gas exploration and production companies to enhance the productivity of their wells. The company also provides high-quality products, strong technical leadership, and applications knowledge to end users in the foundry, building products, water filtration, glass, and sports and recreation markets. Fairmount Santrol has facilities in North America, Europe, and Asia, which are supported by a global distribution and customer support network.