Toray Plastics (America), Inc., North Kingstown, R.I., received the Conservation Leadership Award from the Environment Council of Rhode Island, Providence, R.I. Senator John H. Chafee presented the award at the 13th Annual Sen. John H. Chafee Conservation Leadership Honors May 4.

The annual awards are given in memory of the late governor and U.S. Senator’s dedication to preserving the environment and to honor Rhode Island organizations that have worked to continue that legacy. Paul Urick, vice president of production and safety at Toray Plastics, accepted the award.

Toray’s comprehensive sustainability initiative, which began in 2004, is guided by a six-point environmental mission-prioritize environmental preservation, help prevent global warming, achieve zero emissions of environmental pollutants, promote recycling, contribute to social well-being through environmental-improvement technologies and products and raise employees’ environmental awareness.
“This award means a lot to Toray, and we are very grateful for the recognition,” says Rick Schloesser, president and CEO. “Eight years ago, we launched our sustainability initiative, and have never wavered in our commitment, nor will we. It is truly gratifying to know that the results of our efforts extend far beyond the bounds of our 70-acre campus and are having a positive effect on the state as well as the global community.”

Among Toray’s many environmental achievements are the launch of a three-acre solar farm, the largest such farm in Rhode Island, diverting emission streams to a regenerative thermal oxidizer, thus reducing VOCs by 41%, the diversion of 1,000 tons of non-hazardous waste from landfill and its shipment to a waste-to-energy plant, the plant-wide installation of high-efficiency lamps and motion detectors that turn lights off and save 3.16 million KWHs annually and the recycling of 285 tons of wood, 154 tons of mixed metal, 65 tons of cardboard, 60 tons of paper, bottles and cans, 156 tons of aluminum, nine tons of used oil, six tons of oil absorbents and 700 tons of PP and PET scrap, annually.