Glen Raven: zero-waste goal within reach

By the end of 2011, the Glen Raven Technical Fabrics plant in Burnsville, N.C., will no longer landfill any of its wastes. A substantial investment in recovering nylon and polyester fibers, office paper, batteries, fluorescent tubes, plastics, cardboard, wood pallets and food waste brought the company close to its zero-waste sustainability goals, leaving only soiled fabric, cutting scraps and floor sweepings to be landfilled. Now plant engineers have developed separation and reprocessing techniques for those wastes, using them in absorbent material for oil spills, packaging and insulation. Glen Raven’s Sunbrella® manufacturing center in Anderson, S.C., has been landfill-free for three years, and a solar panel array under construction will generate electricity at Glen Raven’s Norlina, N.C., facility.