Red Fox Resources… A Stepping Stone to a Zero Waste Future
With the cost of waste disposal rising (up over 25% in the last 10 years), scrap metal prices hovering between $.10 and $.25 per pound and subject to the unknowns of international tariffs, now is as good of a time as any to consider a zero waste initiative through Red Fox Resources.
What is Zero Waste?
Zero waste is a system-wide waste management approach that is intended to change the way waste streams are managed as raw materials are made into final products. These products are then sold, used, and ultimately reach the end of their useful life. Zero Waste focuses on the restructuring of production, distribution, and recovery system to reduce waste at all stages of a product’s life.
How do I Become a Zero Waste Company?
We want to stress the fact that the concept of Zero Waste is more of a goal to be pursued rather than a hard target that can be attained. What this mentality really does is provide guiding principles and a working framework for continually working towards eliminating waste. There are a few actions you can take to work towards a zero-waste future.
1. Take a Hard Look at Your Company’s Waste Management
The primary objective of this step is to understand the waste stream that your business generates through the establishment of a baseline to track future progress. Determine the sources, types, and volumes of trash being generated in your business through a thorough waste audit.
A rigorous waste audit will produce a detailed account of waste generation, management, and disposal during a given period. You will be able to categorize waste types and sources, as well as collect, sort, weigh and record them. You should also identify items that are being recycled and items going to the landfill. In essence, you will need to develop a thorough understanding of your waste stream before you can begin to effectively manage it.
2. Build Momentum Through Short-Term Goals (dive in and start)
After your waste audit is complete, you will be able to determine what waste items you can eliminate right away through the creation of short-term goals. You may identify some items that are going into garbage bins that can be diverted right away. The most efficient way to attack this step is through conversations with your employees about how the items that are going into the trash can be efficiently recycled, reused, or composted.
Short term goal achievement is also an excellent way to generate enthusiasm among employees and customers and a signal to other stakeholders of your resolve towards reducing waste.
3. Set Goals and Revisit Them
Creating a monthly or yearly set of waste management goals is great to ensure you are on the right track. Achievable and common-sense goals provide the feedback you need for taking corrective actions.
Why is Zero-Waste Beneficial?
- Zero Waste initiatives can save your business the cost of waste management and disposal through simply not discarding as much material. Additionally, you can generate new revenue streams, and avoid regulatory complications that can accompany waste generation.
- You can brand and market your business as a “green” or “sustainable” business.” This can help you build trust with customers, trading partners, and local communities.
How Can Red Fox Resources Help Your Company Towards a Zero Waste Future?
Most diesel aftertreatment systems are coated with valuable Platinum Group Metals (PGM’s) to ensure the emissions from the engines meet CARB and EPA standards. Red Fox Resources recycles these systems when they have reached their end of life for the purpose of precious metal reclamation.
The Red Fox Resources diesel particulate filter (DPF) and and diesel oxidation catalyst (DOC) recycling program provides a service that can be one puzzle piece towards your ultimate goal of a zero-waste future. Failed or excess emission systems are often discarded in the scrap metal bin where they fetch market price for scrap metal, or these parts can end up in the trash bin which means your company is paying to send it to the landfill. This is where Red Fox comes in to help you reduce this expense and create a revenue stream for these recyclables. This revenue stream is typically created through the simple process of aggregating failed aftertreatment systems for recycling.
When DPFs, DOCs or three-way catalysts from natural gas engines arrive at our Oakland facility, the substrates from the systems are pulverized into a fine powder and this processed material is refined for extracting PGM. The PGM that is retrieved gets put back into the American market, ultimately lowering the price of manufactured goods containing PGM’s in the United States which is primarily used for emission control systems and jewelry.
At Red Fox, we recycle all elements of the parts we buy back. The final component of our process is recycling the stainless-steel cans that house the diesel emission control systems. The spent housings are separated from the substrate material and sent to a scrap metal recycler, finalizing the process and ensuring no material you have sent Red Fox is wasted helping your company achieve your Zero Waste goals.
To learn more about DPF recycling or get assistance with questions about heavy-duty diesel emission regulations, feel free to contact the team at Red Fox Resources.
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For more information, please contact Tripp Heller at 1-844-733-3695 or email at Tripp.Heller@RedFoxResources.com.
