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Summer of 2003 P2 Intern Program Case summaries In 2003, 22 students from Iowa universities and colleges joined the DNR's Pollution Prevention Intern program. During their 12-week internships, students researched methods of reducing waste and preventing pollution at their host companies, and compared the costs of current procedures and proposed practices. The following case studies demonstrate the intern recommendations and company efforts, with impressive environmental and economic results.
Advanced Brands: Improve wastewater treatment process and reduce water usage to decrease chemical and
utility costs; implement utility tracking system to identify potential improvement projects.
Alcoa: Develop a plan to meet Company solid waste reduction goals.
Alliant Energy: Complete a pilot test of equipment designed to reduce emissions and improve system
performance.
Case: Reduce emissions through improvements to the coating and painting processes; conduct a water balance
and identify water conservation opportunities; and improve recycling programs.
Dial: Complete an energy evaluation to reduce energy costs; will include data collection, data evaluation,
and recommendations for demand control.
Donaldson: Reduce product scrap for material savings and landfill avoidance; evaluate markets for solid waste
streams.
Dupont: Identify opportunities to reduce, reuse, and/or recycle wastes; implement cost-saving opportunities
identified through a DNR Waste Reduction Assistance Program (WRAP) audit.
Federal-Mogul: Develop a material flow map that will be used to identify where waste is generated; identify and
evaluate opportunities to implement pollution prevention projects and reduce operational costs; identify energy
saving opportunities.
Gomaco: Work with employees and vendors to identify technical improvements in equipment and coating systems,
which will improve efficiency and reduce waste.
Heinz: Reduce packaging waste to save on disposal and transportation costs; identify markets to create a
revenue for waste stream.
Holcim: Audit the compressed air system to identify and implement energy saving opportunities.
John Deere Foundry: Optimize groundwater supply system for energy savings; implement equipment reuse and
recycling program to reduce purchasing and landfill costs.
Kraft: Conduct a material water balance and identify water conservation opportunities; evaluate the wastewater
treatment system, including disposal options for liquid waste.
Lear: Quantify scrap rates and improve reuse/recycling to reduce solid waste disposal costs.
Midwest Industries: Identify the root cause for paint waste, identify process improvements, and
complete economic analysis of various alternatives.
Omega Cabinetry: Reduce emissions through process modifications to the finish line; identify and
improve low-yielding processes to increase material and labor productivity.
Pella: Conduct a solid waste audit and identify pollution prevention opportunities for the three
largest waste streams to reduce landfill tonnage.
Penford: Reduce electrical power demand by optimizing pump and fan systems; implement energy saving
opportunities.
Polaris: Improve the wastewater treatment system through capital improvements, chemical substitution in
the production process, and process modifications, resulting in energy savings and wastewater disposal cost
savings.
Pure Fishing: Utilize an energy management system to lower electrical usage throughout the plant;
collect and evaluate data to characterize electrical distribution; rank energy conservation opportunities;
implement improvement projects.
Quaker Oats: Identify, quantify and prioritize environmental waste streams through Pareto analysis
and other tools; prepare financial analysis and report of recommendations.
Tone's: Reduce product and packaging losses through process changes to save material costs and disposal
fees.
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