Fond du Lac, Wisc. — Mercury Marine today announced that a major plant operation at its global headquarters is a "Zero Waste to Landfill" facility. The accomplishment represents a significant stride in the company's ongoing campaign to advance its sustainability mission, which includes a focus on protecting and preserving the environment.
"People use and enjoy our products out in the world's natural environments and we are driven to make the world cleaner and increasingly welcoming of those activities," said Chris Drees, Mercury Marine president. "We are thrilled to achieve the first Zero Waste to Landfill designation for one of our plants, and we will use the work we invested in this outcome as an inspiration and template for continued achievements in environmental stewardship."
Mercury's Plant 3 at its Fond du Lac campus is the hub for the company’s parts and accessories distribution, serving customers around the world. This function entails extensive use of packing materials and containers that — without focused efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle — could generate considerable landfill waste.
A task force charged with achieving the Zero Waste to Landfill status undertook a months-long process of defining standards, identifying measurements of waste output, and enhancing initiatives that focus on reducing, reusing and recycling materials. To define Zero Waste to Landfill in the manufacturing and warehousing context, the team adopted standards set forth by the world's leading zero-waste organizations.
Waste streams addressed in the initiative include cardboard, paper, plastic, metal, wood, and various hazardous and non-hazardous materials. The team developed procedures for ongoing monitoring and measuring of these waste-stream materials generated as a result of the plant's operations, and of the amount of these materials moved into the proper processes of reuse and recycling.
Mercury has received several accolades in the past year for its sustainable business practices. These include:
- Best Eco-friendly Company That Is Hiring Now: Mercury Marine. Awarded by Glassdoor.com
- 2018 Sustainable Product of the Year Award: Mercury Marine Active Trim technology. Awarded by Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council
- 2018 Business Friend of the Environment Award: Mercury Marine for its new V6 and V8 outboard engines. Awarded by Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC)
- 2018 Green Masters designation: Mercury Marine (eighth consecutive year). Awarded by Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council
Learn more about Mercury Marine's sustainability initiatives here.