At OSRAM SYLVANIA, we are committed to achieving high standards of environmental quality and to providing a safe and healthful workplace for our employees, contractors, and communities.
We seek a healthy and safe workplace, free of occupational injury and illness. We emphasize individual responsibility for safety by all employees and at all levels of management. We are also committed to reducing the environmental burden of waste generation and emissions to the air, water and land, as well as developing environmentally friendly processes and products as our contribution to safeguard and preserve the environment. We seek to continually improve the EHS management system and performance by establishing, reviewing and updating meaningful objectives and targets relating to prevention of pollution and attainment of a safe workplace.
OSRAM SYLVANIA is also a responsible member of the communities, in which we live and work. We work to be good, responsible citizens in the communities affected by our operations. We focus on expanding our knowledge and understanding of the effect of our operations on safety, health and the environment.
Hazardous materials reduction -- In the past 15 years the manufacturing plants have continually reduced the use of hazardous materials in the production process as well as environmental risks associated with them. For instance, the plants have decrease alcohol and solvent use, removed underground storage tanks, added filtration systems for factory discharge air purification and improved water treatment by reducing quantities of chemicals needed to treat. The Versailles plant, for instance, has installed a solvent recovery system to avert solvents from the discharge stream.
As another example, one of our facilities constructed a new hazardous waste storage building. The new building has sufficient room to safely accumulate waste for direct shipping and to eliminate moving the waste throughout the facility thus reducing material handling and potential spills to the environment.
Heavy metal reductions – Lead and mercury have gained attention recently. Reduction and elimination of these two heavy metals is becoming more important as studies show that exposure to them can have adverse health effects. OSRAM SYLVANIA has been proactive in reducing the use of these elements in our product manufacturing, which also has the important benefit of improving the work environment of our employees. For instance, the Winchester, KY lamp plant eliminated lead solder in production lamps more than 15 years ago. The Manchester, NH lamp plant eliminated a major lead wave solder operation, a process that consumed several thousand pounds of lead bars and 3,500 pounds of lead waste per year. The use of leaded solder on Br30 and Br 40 lamps was eliminated at the St. Mary’s plant in October 2004. The Versailles, KY plant has reduced the average mercury dosing per lamp by 70% over the past five years and continues to focus on reduction activities.
Water -- Monitoring and filter systems and processes have been installed and implemented in the Winchester, Juarez and Manchester plants to reduce or prevent hazardous discharge to the public sewer treatment.
Energy savings – Two energy conservation projects were implemented at the Juarez plant. Lighting is shut down during weekends, and a timer installation for the heating and cooling units to work only during business and operational hours has reduced electricity consumption by 15%. Additional energy conservation activities, such as the use of a more efficient compressed air system, represents savings of 250 HP continuously.
Recycling -- OSRAM SYLVANIA publicly promotes recycling as the preferred method of lamp disposal. As a matter of policy, our own warehouse and manufacturing locations
recycle broken lamps. Furthermore, each of the manufacturing locations has additional recycling efforts for items such as paper, cardboard, scrap, glass, and brass bases. Recycling projects include up to 90% of scrap materials generated at manufacturing, including plastic, trays, metal, and cardboard.