Emery Oleochemicals’ Cincinnati Plant Earns Highest Honor for Excellence in Environmental, Health, Safety & Security Performance
OCTC Eagle Award Received for Exemplary Achievement of Significant Sustainability Objective
CINCINNATI, OH, USA (June 30, 2021) - The Cincinnati Plant of Emery Oleochemicals, a global natural-based specialty chemicals manufacturer, was recently awarded the highest honor for Excellence in Environmental Performance from the Ohio Chemistry Technology Council (OCTC). Known as the Eagle Award, one program that stands out as exemplary in scope, implementation, impact and sustainability is selected for this honor by the OCTC panel of judges.
The Eagle Award was presented virtually at the OCTC 33rd Annual Meeting held in June 2021 in recognition of Emery’s achievement of significant sustainability goals that the company set last year. In 2020, Emery Oleochemicals developed and implemented a high priority ISO 14001 Environmental Management Plan to reduce the impact the company’s wastewater has on the local Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati’s treatment plant. Multiple projects at Emery’s Cincinnati Plant were completed to reduce both the company’s wastewater volume and its organic waste concentration. Some of the projects included:
- • increasing cooling tower cycles of concentration,
- • capturing condensate that had previously been discharged to the sewer,
- • reusing sewer water for additional purposes, such as for scrubber feed water, and
- • isolation of high strength organic waste from Emery’s esterification processes for alternative disposal to off-site biodigesters.
In 2020, Emery’s Cincinnati Plant achieved a 14% reduction in its wastewater volume and a 25% reduction in its organic waste concentration compared to the benchmark average of 2018 and 2019 data; resulting in a smaller footprint as part of the company’s ongoing environmental stewardship. The additional benefit of isolating the organic waste for off-site disposal is that the organics are broken down to generate bio-gas as an alternative energy source, thus contributing to a circular economy through the use of products beyond the end of their service life.
“Despite the challenges of 2020, through the perseverance and hard work of our employees, we made meaningful progress in our ongoing efforts to act sustainably in our business operations. Winning this award validates Emery’s commitment to finding and realizing progressive ways to continually reduce our impact on the environment,” said Jay Taylor, Emery Oleochemicals’ Group CEO.
To learn more about Emery Oleochemicals’ Sustainability Vision, visit www.emeryoleo.com/sustainability.