DuPont Building Innovations: A Case Study in Achieving Zero Landfill
DuPont Building Innovations, a leader in sustainable building solutions, demonstrates that environmental responsibility aligns with business growth and innovation. Their commitment to zero landfill reflects a core value and contributes to their market differentiation.
In 2008, Building Innovations produced 81 million pounds of landfill at 15 locations, a volume equivalent to nearly 16,000 cars or 1,000 loaded tractor-trailers. For such a massive undertaking, Dave Walter, a trained Six Sigma black belt, was tasked to lead the global Six Sigma project team.
The project’s success hinged on the systematic collection and analysis of data. By employing Six Sigma methodology and Minitab Statistical Software, the team gains valuable insights into waste generation patterns, enabling targeted process improvements. They mapped waste streams, performed regression analysis, and created visualizations like boxplots and histograms to understand waste generation patterns.
“Minitab is important in our auditing process…Every week we’re checking our numbers, making sure the right materials are going into the right containers, and we use Minitab control charts, histograms, and other tools to make sense of the data we collect.” – Dave Walter.
Their data-driven approach to achieve zero landfill can be used as a model for other organizations seeking to embed sustainable practices within their operations. The project resulted in lower costs, and identified reuse and recycling opportunities that not only reduced environmental impact but also unlocked new revenue streams. For instance, Corian® scraps were transformed into landscaping stones and drainage rock, while sanding waste served as concrete filler. In addition, $2.2 million was earned from byproduct sales and $400,000 in cost savings through the avoidance of 81 million pounds of landfill waste.
You can read the entire article at https://www.minitab.com/en-us/resources-services/resources/case-studies/dupont/
