Caterpillar Mapleton Foundry
Mapleton, Illinois
Brenda Read
Bradley University, Peoria
Caterpillar’s Mapleton Foundry is a gray iron foundry that casts
engine blocks, engine heads, and cylinder liners. It is located south
of Peoria along the Illinois River in Mapleton, Illinois. The plant runs
twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, and employs 800 people.
The Caterpillar Mapleton facility requested an IEPA Pollution Prevention
Summer Intern to conduct a facility-wide waste audit and investigate ways
to improve its recycling program. Prior to the internship, the facility
only recycled cardboard, paper, wood, and scrap metal.
Result:
The recommendations for improving recycling included:
- Recycling cardboard through K.R. Packaging. The facility is checking
into the purchase of a used cardboard baler and baling this on site.
- Recycling aluminum cans, phone books, plastic bottles, and office
paper through the Pekin Recycling Center. Collect metal banding from
incoming pallets and melt on-site. Annually, the facility can save $15,650
by recycling common commodities and prevent 69.1 tons of material from
being landfilled.
- Replace eight existing solvent parts washers with six Bio-Circle
aqueous parts washers and use the Bio-Circle Cleaner. The company will
save $5,043 a year by doing this.
- Continue pursuing recyclers willing to take baghouse dust and refractory
brick. This can save approximately $77,000 in landfill costs and prevent
212.14 tons from being landfilled.
- All recycling bins will be standardized for ease of use. Employees
will be trained and made aware of recycling opportunities within the
plant.
|
