Crown Equipment announces first company-owned retail dealership achieves zero landfill status

Crown Equipment Corporation, one of the world’s leading forklift manufacturers, announced that its Crown Lift Trucks branch in Dayton, Ohio, achieved zero landfill status. The facility is the first company-owned retail dealership and the third Crown facility to fully divert its waste from landfills through repurposing and recycling. The company’s zero landfill initiative across its operations is a component of its ecologic commitment to a clean environment and smart business practices.

In previous years, the Dayton facility annually sent an estimated 150 to 200 cubic yards of waste to landfills. After implementing recycling initiatives and removing disposable items from its operations, the facility estimates a near-reversal of those numbers, generating 200 cubic yards of recycling and 60 cubic yards of non-recyclable waste that is used for power generation.

Lauren Robbins, branch manager, Crown Lift Trucks in Dayton, said, “The zero landfill initiative helped us to focus on further reducing our output, reusing wherever possible and recycling whatever we could. Our employees were a key part of this effort. They’ve really embraced the initiative and have suggested additional opportunities to improve our operations.”

When evaluating sustainability initiatives, Crown Lift Trucks in Dayton utilized Crown’s five-step method of analyzing the facility, developing a plan, establishing internal communication and involvement, evaluating results and sharing successes, and extending benefits beyond the company bottom line. Crown plans to use the Dayton branch’s approach as a best practice for its more than 50 additional Crown-owned dealers to review as they consider implementing similar programs.

Brian Duffy, Crown’s director of corporate environmental and manufacturing safety, added, “After achieving successful zero landfill operations at two manufacturing facilities, we made the natural progression to extend our zero landfill initiative to the branch level. The team in Dayton embraced the opportunity and is now an example for not just our other branches but for forklift dealers throughout the world to identify ways to achieve a cleaner environment.”

A copy of last year’s Crown ecologic Report highlighting the company’s global sustainability initiatives can be downloaded at http://www.crown.com. The 2012 Crown ecologic™ Report will be available later this spring.