Green Building Practices

The Wagner Companies has been implementing more green business practices since 2004. We continue this endeavor by focusing on sustainability.  At that time, we first participated in the State’s Focus on Energy program. As a result, we have upgraded to more energy-efficient lighting, and hot-water boiler and air compressor systems. We also offer products and components that qualify for LEED credits.

Wagner’s Prior Accomplishments in Sustainability:

1. We diverted 100% of our wood waste from going into a landfill. Previously disposing of it in a dumpster, which lead to an inefficient use of space and expensive hauling fees, we now recycle it through a company called JMB Logistics. The recycled wood is now used to make mulch and animal bedding, or it can even be picked up by local consumers, free of charge.
2. We eliminated our foam packaging system and switched to an air pouch system. We now use a lot less material in our packaging processes. The pouches are made from 95% pre-consumer recycled content and can be recycled at any retail grocery store. This switch saved us money while also reducing material in landfills by 912 cubic-feet annually.
3. On the outside of our building, we replaced all metal halide and high-pressure sodium lights with LED’s, reducing our energy consumption by 27,725 kilowatt hours annually. This simple switch decreased air pollution and environmental damage of carbon dioxide by 41,588 pounds, sulfur dioxide by 69,314 grams and nitrogen oxides by 160,807 grams. Removing those quantities of pollutants has the same effect on the environment as planting 5 acres of trees!

But Wagner is not content to sit on our laurels. We continue to focus on sustainability.

Recently, Wagner made the decision to change metal recycling vendors. This resulted in our need to switch out our containers and equipment. In doing so, we explored the opportunity to improve our recycling program by segregating high-value materials.

Changes included:

• Diverting metal chips from saw cutting operations into steel drums
  • We no longer have metal chips contaminating larger loads. This increases the value of every container picked up.
• Diverting steel skeletons from our steel punch-out box and pipe and tube scrap from our miscellaneous metal box
  • This allowed us to convert a secondary material bin into a primary material bin.
    • Secondary materials need a sorting/shredding process before recycling
    • Primary materials are ready for reprocessing immediately.

The end results? These simple changes in our recycling process improved our corporate social responsibility and improved our profitability.

In short, “going green, can save you green.” For more information contact us.

View our Environmental Sustainability Statement

Share