Hutchinson 3M has been working on 'green' efforts for years

The air around the 3M plant in Hutchinson is cleaner than it was just a dozen years ago. Since 1996, the site has reduced its volatile organic air emissions by 96 percent.

That’s just one of numerous steps the company’s largest North American manufacturing site has taken to become “greener” in recent years.

According to Steve Jensen, the site’s environmental health and safety manager, 3M has made many strides to reduce waste and save energy.

Waste reduction, Jensen said, has largely come from reusing and recycling waste material, rather than removing waste after a product has been created.
Energy reduction is largely the result of projects and practices initiated by the site’s 13-member energy team, which started in 2000.

Some practices have been simple, such as shutting off lights, computers, facility equipment and production equipment when not in use. More costly projects have included the installation of a heat-recovery unit on a boiler, energy-efficient lighting, variable frequency drives and high-efficiency motors.

Energy-conservation efforts have enabled the site to reduce:

- electrical consumption by 12 million kilowatts a year (enough electricity to power more than 1,300 homes),
- water consumption by 45 million gallons a year (enough water to fill the Hutchinson swimming poll 185 times), and
- fuel oil consumption by more than 1.7 million gallons (enough to heat more than 2,200 homes each year).

The company has been widely recognized for its conservation efforts. In 2007, 3M Corp. received the Energy Star Sustained Excellence Award for Energy Management from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. department of Energy. It was the fourth consecutive year that 3M received the award, breaking the record for an industrial company.

(Doug Hanneman is editor of the Hutchinson Leader. He may be reached at hanneman@hutchinsonleader.com)