Fetzer Wine Has Goal of Zero Waste by 2009 and
It’s Already Darn Near!
Fetzer, whose wines are widely available in Boulder County, is not only converting their vineyards to organic agriculture, but is also aiming to achieve Zero Waste by 2009. By reducing, reusing and recycling, the company has already slashed its garbage by 93%! A big chunk of their waste is composted — mostly grape seeds and cork. The company is also committed to buying recycled products (even the roof on their building is recycled) to help keep markets alive for the tons of paper, cans and glass they recycle each year.
In addition, solar energy provides power to Fetzer’s buildings and supplies enough energy to fill and cap 1.2 million bottles of wine each year. Finally, all Fetzer products come in recyclable packaging. Who could ask for more from a company?

Huber Beer Sold in Refillable Bottles
Manufacturer take-back programs are a key component of the Zero Waste paradigm and are an excellent example of producer responsibility. Refillable beverage containers are a good example of this. Budweiser beer (longneck bottles only) is sold in refillable bottles at Liquor Mart in Boulder, and Huber Beer is sold in refillables at North Boulder Liquor, Liquor Mart and Centennial Square Liquor in Longmont. Customers pay a deposit of $4.80 per case, which is refunded upon their next visit to the store. Trucks that carry the beer to the retailers return to the brewery full of empty bottles instead of empty space. The bottles are then sanitized, refilled and delivered back to the retailer.

Refillable Milk Bottles from Lowell Paul
For those wanting a more wholesome beverage, Lowell Paul Dairy of Greeley sells returnable and refillable milk bottles at Wild Oats and Alfalfa’s Markets. The Whole Foods Market’s name brand milk also comes in returnable bottles. These brands all require a $1 deposit.

Hard Copy Recycling Turns Discards into Money
No one would buy a new tire if all it needed were air. Barbara Douglass of Hard Copy Recycling in Longmont uses this logic to explain the benefits of refilling used toner cartridges used in ink-jet printers for home or business computers. Because manufacturers of toner cartridges typically don’t practice producer responsibility by taking back used cartridges, Douglass has stepped in to fill the need. Consumers and businesses know they can save money by going to Hard Copy Recycling to refill their toner cartridges. Also, by bucking the disposable society trend, customers of Hard Copy are saving natural resources, supporting a local business and creating a new job market.

Interface, A Sustainable Carpet Company
Interface, Inc., the world’s largest carpet manufacturer, has set the goal of becoming the world’s first truly sustainable company. Interface’s overall goal is "to take nothing from the Earth that is not renewable and do no harm to the biosphere." According to Interface CEO Ray C. Anderson, there is no industrial company on Earth that meets its current needs without, in some measure, depriving future generations of the means to meet their needs. Interface strives for zero waste by rethinking the way their products are made, transported, maintained, and recovered. For example, Interface now offers the "Evergreen Lease," an innovative carpet rental-and-service contract that minimizes carpet waste through the use of stronger, more durable carpet fibers, recovery of worn carpet fibers for recycling, and servicing of carpet on a section-by-section (rather than whole-carpet) basis.

DOVatron Manufacturing of Niwot Reaches First in Colorado
DOVatron Manufacturing of Niwot, Colorado, a contract assembler of high-tech products, is the first Colorado-based company to meet the ISO 14001 environmental management systems standards of the International Organization for Standardization. Having ISO 14001 certification places DOVatron among the environmental leaders in Colorado. Only three other U.S. firms with operations in Colorado have achieved this milestone—Kodak (Windsor, CO), Lockheed Martin Astronautics (Littleton, CO) and IBM (Boulder, CO).
DOVatron has implemented cutting edge strategies to cut air pollution and reduce environmental impacts through efficient use of energy and materials. These strategies include a pollution prevention program, conceptualizing and designing products for minimum environmental impact, and an innovative program to reduce packaging waste received from suppliers. Also, DOVatron replaced old and inefficient machinery with modern versions that dramatically reduced environmental impacts. These strategies and programs have reduced both pollution and the cost of doing business.

BioCorp Designs Compostable Disposables
As much as ten percent of today’s landfill volume is single-use or disposable products, including diapers, paper and plastic cups and plates, paper toweling, and plastic trash bags. The BioCorp Company is challenging the notion that "single-use" has to mean "disposable," by offering a clever alternative to plastic and Styrofoam® food service items. BioCorp cups, plates, and cutlery are made from fully biodegradable cornstarch and natural polymers, and can be composted and returned to the earth within several weeks after use. BioCorp also offers biodegradable leaf collection bags that can be composted along with their contents. We may soon see cornstarch "plastics" produced in quantity by chemical giants like Dow—so keep an eye out for developments.

Lexmark Uses Recyclable Alternative to Styrofoam®
One of the drawbacks of buying electronics is the inevitable mountain of Styrofoam® left over after de-packaging. Because these Styrofoam® blocks can’t be recycled, Lexmark, a manufacturer of computer printers, has been using recyclable paperboard instead of Styrofoam® as cushioning for most of their non-laser printers since 1997. The paperboard Lexmark uses resembles egg cartons and is accepted at many recycling centers in Boulder County. It’s even made from recycled paper, so once recycled it could end up as packaging in another Lexmark printer. The packaging is not only environmentally-friendly but is also more compact, which means smaller boxes and cost savings.

Exabyte Anticipates Changes to Meet New International Rules
With many countries around the world requiring manufacturers to take back their used products and packaging for reuse or recycling—known as Producer Responsibility—at least one Boulder company is stepping up to the plate to meet the challenge. Recently, Exabyte of Boulder sent representatives to a national "Take it Back" conference (see "Director’s Corner" this issue) to learn how they might design their tape drives for recyclability and disassembly. Exabyte understands the importance of assuming responsibility for the life cycle environmental impacts of their products, a condition of doing business in countries that mandate Producer Responsibility.

Zero Waste Meets Longmont’s Country Fair
Longmont’s annual Rhythm on the River festival is a living example of how easy it is to get close to Zero Waste without burdening the consumer—or in this case the festival attendee. The festival was designed from the start with Zero Waste in mind. Much of the eating ware provided by food vendors is compostable—the spoons and forks are made from cornstarch and cottonseed oil that are 100% biodegradable. Composting stations are set up for food and compostable paper dishes, while recycling stations are set up for aluminum foil packaging, plastic bottles and cans. The 14,000 attendees diverted 81% of the trash in 1999 with barely a bother. Rhythm on the River exemplifies how waste reduction can be achieved when it is designed into a system at the front-end — and not merely considered an afterthought.