Collins & Aikman
Rantoul, Illinois
Intern: Allison Kmett
University of Illinois, Urbana - Champaign
Collins & Aikman has three manufacturing facilities in Rantoul. The
company is a leading supplier of instrument panels and interior plastic trim and
side panels for automobiles. The processes include plastic injection molding,
painting and assembly. The intern assisted the facility in preparation for
its re-certification audit for the ISO 14001 standard, as well as investigating
a number of pollution prevention and energy efficiency opportunities.
Results:
- Paint is applied to many of the plastic parts manufactured at the facility. This
creates a paint waste that is over 95 percent water. The intern investigated
the purchase of an evaporator to reduce the amount of waste that needed to be
treated offsite. The facility could save $11,000 a year in disposal
costs and have a payback period of 1.6 years for the equipment.
- One facility has an oil skimmer to separate water from oil. The intern
suggested that the other two facilities purchase a similar unit. The
used oil is clean enough that it can be sold for reuse and the clean water can
be released to the sewer. This would eliminate oil waste disposal
costs and decrease the waste stream by about 25 percent. The savings
could be $9,000 a year and have a payback of 1.8 years.
- The intern utilized an ultrasonic leak detector to locate seven leaks in the
compressed air lines. Once repaired, this could result in an energy savings
of $12,000 a year.
- By retrofitting all exit signs at the three facilities with light emitting
diodes or LED lighting, the intern determined the company could save $1,000 a
year.
|
