Over the past few decades, businesses have been consistently going green by building Eco-conscious factories and sponsoring initiatives that make their commitment clear. Going Green is a buzz word heard in commercials, plastered on retail packaging, and even used in company slogans with the hopes of increasing profits.
Going Green Underground
UV&S has operated as a green company since 1959. By simply reusing the acres that have been mined, we are recycling space. Our underground facilities requires no air conditioning or gas furnace heating. We naturally remain at a constant temperature of 68 degrees throughout the year and the humidity level averages 45%.
We mix salt fines with concrete instead of bringing in sand when creating concrete floors at the Hutchinson facility. Most of our employees use three wheeled bicycles underground for transportation when walking is too far. We also use electric carts and forklifts. If you are looking for a company that cares about the environment– we’ve been green since the beginning.
Shredding and Going Green
Destruction services also allow us to recycle tons of paper a year. Instead of waste going to landfills, we use certified vendors to re-use shredded paper. It is sent to paper mills to be reprocessed and produced into new material. 2,000 pounds of recycled paper can save approximately:
- 17 Trees
- 9 barrels of oil
- 7,000 gallons of water
- 650 kilowatt hours of electricity
- 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space
- 60 pounds of air pollutants
We play a roll providing the fiber used to make paper products. In the U.S., more than 37% of fiber for new paper comes from recycled sources. In fact, roughly 80% of paper mills rely on paper recycling to make some of their products.
Recycling Facts
- Using old paper to make new paper uses 30 to 50 percent less energy than making paper from trees.
- Paper recycling prevents more than 115 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.
- Recycling half the word’s paper would free 20 million acres of forest land.
- The EPA has found that making paper from recycled materials results in 74% less air pollution and 35% less water pollution.
E-Waste Recycling
E-Waste is a term that describes any electronic device that has a circuit board that you are ready to discard. For legal and environmental reasons, it is very important to recycle your E-Waste responsibly. There are secure ways to re-use the materials in old electronics, and by recycling them, we are conserving our natural resources and keeping our landfills from filling up.
Unlike some recycling firms who illegally export unprocessed equipment with hazardous and toxic materials to Third World countries, we are vigilant in our efforts to ensure that our partners are operating under a No Export Policy as well. We are doing our part to keep the planet and its people safe. The materials we collect are either refurbished, harvested for reuse or resell, or turned into usable raw materials to make other products.
UV&S cares for our planet, not because we want to win your business but because it’s the right thing to do. We are fortunate that the services we provide give us the opportunity to re-use resources and reduce the waste we create. Let us know if your company needs help securely storing, destroying or recycling your data.
