Program Details: West Valley Nuclear Services Company, part of Washington Group International, manages and operates the WVDP. The Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention Program is an integral part of the effort to educate and encourage employees to both minimize waste and prevent pollution, to protect the environment on a local and global scale, and for providing reports, both at the federal and state levels, on the amount of waste generated and minimized. In November 1999, the Secretary of the Department of Energy issued several national goals for all Department of Energy sites, including the reduction of all types of waste streams (radioactive, hazardous, industrial, and sanitary) through the 3R philosophy of reduce, reuse, and recycle, as well as conserving energy and buying recycled products.
Although the Waste Min/P2 Program had been in place since 1994, participation in the program by all employees was not clearly visible or seen as effective by the customer, even though many employees actually did contribute to minimizing waste streams in their daily work activities. Tracking and documenting of the various initiatives and activities was difficult: many employees simply did the work, but much of what was being done was not captured in the reports generated.
Cathy Atkinson was designated as the lead person for the Pollution Prevention Program and Chairperson of the P2 Committee, in 1999, which consisted of about 40 employee volunteers. Ms. Atkinson met with her DOE counterpart to discuss ways to meet the new goals. “We wanted to find ways to recognize employees for the good things they were doing, encourage them to do more, and have documentation to prove that we were reducing waste, et cetera, to meet our goals.”
It was determined that a group of volunteers headed by Ms. Atkinson would benchmark similar companies, both in the government and private sectors, to learn more about how they encouraged and recognized employees for helping companies meet their goals. The team of volunteers (about seven people) researched several companies, and also searched the Internet for information.
Objective: The West Valley Demonstration Project is a unique operation within the Department of Energy, born out of the West Valley Demonstration Project Act of 1980. The Act requires the Department of Energy to be responsible for solidifying high-level waste, disposing of waste created by the solidification process, and decommissioning the facilities used in the process. The WVDP is a U.S. Department of Energy environmental cleanup and waste management project located about 35 miles south of Buffalo, conducted in cooperation with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
Supplier: Bill Sims Award of Excellence, Columbia, SC
Results: According to Cathy Atkinson: “In the 18 months that I was lead for this program, the company realized over $2.2M in cost avoidances and savings by using this program. There were 183 suggestions made, with 63 ideas actually implemented. As a result of utilizing this incentive program, we able to document what was being done to reach our goals and justify the value of the entire P2 Program. Our customer, the Department of Energy, gave us very high ratings for developing such an innovative and cost-effective program. At the national level, the program was recognized in the DOE Pollution Prevention newsletter and was one of the highlighted achievements when WVNS applied for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPAs) Performance Track Award.
“The employees loved this program! Because the goals and criteria were clearly stated and provided on every suggestion form, employees knew what was expected and could focus their efforts in the areas they had direct knowledge about. They also knew up front what they could expect for their efforts; meaning, their level of participation would enable them to receive ‘X’ amount of Star Buck tickets and a chance to win the Grand Prize every quarter.
“ I believe we were able to instill a stronger culture based on the purpose and goals of the Waste Minimization and Pollution Prevention Program not only with our employees, but with their families as well, by using this approach in recognizing and giving value for ideas submitted by the employees.”
Certainly, both WVNS and the Department of Energy will agree that this program has paid for itself many times over, not only in cost savings but in minimizing waste, saving energy, and promoting affirmative procurement--the goals set forth by the government at the inception of this program. Overall, The Award of Excellence Program provided a win-win situation for the employees at the West Valley Demonstration Project, the contractor (WVNS), and customers (DOE and NYSERDA).
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