Reducing the Environmental Impact of Our Operations
We're committed to reducing the environmental impact of our operations through energy efficiency, waste reduction, and resource conservation. Our dedicated team of environmental, health, and safety experts and facility managers works closely with individual sites to manage environmental risk. Our precautionary approach is based on a risk assessment process that identifies, assesses, and mitigates environmental risk throughout our operations and supply chain.
Enhancing the Sustainability of Our Foam Recycling Process
No one likes a broken piece of equipment arriving in the mail, but with the insulation required to protect our materials, packaging foam is needed to ensure safe delivery. Much of it is reused, but the rest needs to be recycled. Previously, it was picked up and hauled off or salvaged, but this was costly, both in terms of money and from an environmental perspective due to the amplified truck emissions.
The solution? A foam densifier. This piece of equipment reduces foam packaging material at an 80:1 ratio, resulting in a significantly smaller volume of foam and reducing the need for frequent foam pickups. Not only did this reduce truck emissions from multiple foam pickups by 8:1, but densified foam is an ecological and marketable product. Ever wonder what the hard plastic benches at the park are made from? Recycled foam packaging.
Seeing Our Buildings in a New Light
The Infinera Green Team is proactive in introducing energy-efficient solutions to our work environment, such as our participation in the PG&E Whole Building Energy Efficiency Program. Our existing buildings are constructed to older, less energy-efficient standards, so our dedication to this program is a significant commitment, but existing buildings represent the greatest opportunity today for energy use improvements, and we are excited to be at the forefront of this effort.
Projects planned include new building control technology, use of free cooling, new LED lighting, installation of variable frequency drives, use of hot aisle/cold aisle techniques, and other mechanical and operational modifications. Once implemented, these measures will decrease carbon dioxide emissions, reduce energy use by 10% within the year, and deliver rapid payback from cost savings.
