In order to share information within the network of sustainability controllers, we have created a database for collection of typical improvement projects. Today, this database contains more than 1,000 projects. Improving environmental performance At any given moment, there are between one and two thousand ongoing improvement projects at ABB. The impact of each individual project may be small. But together these projects have a huge effect on ABB’s sustainability performance. For seven years, ABB has systematically applied the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System throughout its organization. Much still remains to be done and it must be done through many small projects in a relentless process of continuous improvement. ABB has more than 530 sites with Environmental Management Systems in place. Most are certified to ISO 14001. But in some ways, ABB is a fragmented organization. The average number of employees at each location is less than 200. Each site has its own, stand-alone EMS, adapted to the specific activities and environmental problems of each site. Overall corporate objectives – such as reducing the use of hazardous materials, cutting energy consumption and lowering harmful emissions – are common to all EMSs. Beyond that, local environment managers are encouraged and expected to come up with solutions to solve their own problems. Small local initiatives; big global improvements ABB’s employees have seized the opportunity. Since 1993, when we put our first EMS into effect, we have cut our use of solvents by 35 percent. Our output of hazardous waste has declined by 35 percent. The use of “restricted” materials and substances has been reduced substantially. Environmental benefits often bring economic benefits too. More than 40 percent of the environmental projects have saved money – usually by cutting waste, using less energy or reducing transportation costs. Sharing the secrets of success With so many local initiatives, the possibilities for the cross-fertilization of ideas are enormous. To make sure this happens, ABB set up a database in 2001 to store details of all improvement projects and make them available to all sites. Around 1,000 projects have been logged in the database so far. On these pages we look in more detail at several of the improvement projects under way at ABB sites around the world. Creative thinking eliminates waste wood in Egypt ABB Arab S.A.E., based in an industrial suburb of Cairo, employs more than 1,000 people in the manufacture of a wide range of electrical equipment, from circuit breakers and load-break switches to wiring accessories and lighting fittings. Like any factory, the site is constantly receiving deliveries and shipping finished products. Mohamed Gaber El-Kabany is in charge of shipping and packaging. Noticing the amount of wooden crates and pallets that accumulated from incoming deliveries, he suggested a simple environmental improvement: the in-house carpentry department could break up and reuse the waste packaging from incoming deliveries. Now, the factory recycles almost all wooden packaging, making anything from new crates and pallets for shipping finished products, to office shelves, fences and even decorative plant containers. The factory needs to buy less wood for its own packaging needs. “This is, of course, in line with our environmental policy of conserving natural resources,” says El-Kabany. “It costs us virtually nothing, since we already have all the tools we need; and it gives our carpenters the satisfaction of finding creative uses for the wood.” Cleaning up wastewater in Colombia ABB Coltavira S.A. a company with 250 employees in Bogotá, Colombia, manufactures water meters. Analyses in February and March 2001 showed that industrial wastewater from the site failed to meet ABB standards. It was too alkaline and contained excessive amounts of suspended solids. In April and May, a wastewater purification plant was built. Wastewater from the site now comfortably meets all requirements—legal requirements as well as ABB standards. Suspended solids have been reduced by 99 percent. Studies are now under way to reduce water contamination before the water enters the purification plant and to reuse the purified water, cutting consumption of fresh water. Valves that saved 16 million liters of water When environmental managers at ABB Varennes, Canada, a manufacturer of high-voltage transformers, were looking to cut water consumption in the factory, they found one major culprit: high-frequency welding machines. These machines are water cooled, and the water runs continuously as long as the machines are turned on, whether or not they are in use. The solution was simple, cheap and highly effective: the company spent $ 300 installing solenoid valves to shut off the water when the machines were not in use. Water consumption was cut by 29 percent – almost 16 million liters of water a year, saving almost $ 3,000 a year. A replacement for chlorinated solvents? Try water... If you need to clean grease off metal parts, chlorinated solvents do the job very well. But in other respects it is pretty nasty stuff: a volatile organic compound that contributes to ground level ozone formation, and is very harmful if inhaled. Engineers at ABB Medición S.A., a manufacturer of water meters in Renteria, Spain, tested several alternatives in an effort to achieve the same cleaning result but with reduced environmental impact. Edurne Ijalba, Continuous Improvement Manager, explains: “We evaluated several alternatives and decided on the one with the least environmental impact: hot water. We specified water cleaning for a new machining center that we were buying anyway, and converted five other machines to water cleaning.” “The total cost was nearly $ 50,000; but at the same time we were able to change our processes and workflow, which will save us nearly $ 17,000 per year. And our emissions of chlorinated solvents are now zero.” Taking full "cradle-to-grave" responsibility Recycling of electrical and electronic equipment at the end of its working life is already mandatory in some countries, and the list is growing all the time. In Finland, ABB Product Service has set up a recycling program for variable speed drives and motors, well in advance of legal requirements. Redundant equipment is collected from the customer, and dismantled. Reusable parts are set aside; recyclable components are sorted and delivered to specialist recycling companies. As well as doing this work itself, ABB has set up a nationwide network of companies authorized to dispose of ABB products. ABB has also prepared detailed recycling instructions for each of its products to encourage widespread adoption of recycling procedures.