Vermeer Corporation celebrated the 50th Earth Day by announcing the opening of their new Eco Center. Vermeer Environmental Health & Safety Manager Stephen Kelly says the corporation has an entire business segment dedicated to managing natural resources, which is an important piece to their manufacturing operations.

“I am so proud to be part of this talented, motivated and fun team dedicated to making a positive impact for our internal Vermeer customers, while proactively working to minimize our environmental footprint as an organization.”

Kelly says there were some challenges that became opportunities for improvement after the previous Eco Center was destroyed by the July 2018 tornado.

Solvents are key to effectively clean paint line and paint guns. In a year, the Eco Center collects and recycles 100 percent of the solvent Vermeer uses, which is more than 60,000 gallons. At Vermeer, all used oil is collected and recycled or used as an alternative energy source. Wood waste on campus comes from various sources – primarily the pallets and crates that bring steel, engines and other high-quality components to be used in the manufacturing process. The waste that can be reused into pallets is used as is, which amounts to 40,000 pallets a year. What can’t be reused as a pallet is grinded by an HG4000 horizontal grinder into mulch.

Yellow iron starts as raw steel before hitting machining centers, lasers and cutters. Scraps and metal dust from these processes are collected. Electronic waste, or e-waste, is the fastest growing area of waste. It accounts for 40% of lead and 75% of heavy metals that are found in landfills that can negatively impact water systems. Vermeer’s Eco Center also works to collect e-waste and partner with electronic recyclers that disassemble and reuse the metals and potentially toxic materials while maintaining information and data security.

Nearby, a solar field installed with Vermeer equipment, captures sunlight and distributes this green energy to facilities.