Riverdale Mills Case Study Documents Cost Savings, Innovative Solution |
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Riverdale Mills, located in Northbridge, Massachusetts, is one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of galvanized and PVC-coated wire mesh products in the world. The company reduced the use of hydrochloric acid, ammonium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide by using innovative engineering techniques. Find out how they did it with a 26-month return on investment.
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TURI Receives EPA Healthy Communities Grant |
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Co-director of TURI and Public Health Prof. Joel Tickner of UMass Lowell received a $35,000 EPA Healthy Communities Grant to implement the project, “Lean Manufacturing and Pollution Prevention in the Food and Beverage Sector.”
The project team, led by TURI Business & Industry Program Manager Joy Onasch, in partnership with Wachusett Community College and the Greater Boston Manufacturing Partnership, will administer a 16-week training program for employees from ten food and beverage manufacturing companies in Massachusetts. The training will help companies implement lean manufacturing and pollution prevention projects. The team will develop a case study and track environmental outcomes as a result of the projects.
"The facilities will learn ways to reduce the use of natural resources and toxic chemicals, discover cost savings and create a healthier work environment and community along the way. This is the type of innovative outcome that EPA New England’s Healthy Communities grant program is very happy to support," says Robert Guillemin, Grant Project Officer from the US Environmental Protection Agency New England Region.
If you own or work for a food and beverage company in the North Central or Merrimack Valley area of Massachusetts and are interested in enrolling in the training program, please contact Joy Onasch.
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Legislator Briefing on Safer Cleaners & Disinfectants |
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Representative Smitty Pignatelli and Senator Anne Gobi, Co-Chairs of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, invited TURI staff to present a 30-minute briefing to state legislators about "Safer Cleaning & Disinfecting During the Pandemic."
TURI Lab Director Jason Marshall explained that many disinfecting agents contain bleach and quaternary ammonium compounds that can cause, or make worse, respiratory conditions such as asthma. He shared information on how to find products with safer active ingredients and the importance of following label instructions to achieve safety and effectiveness. View TURI's website for detailed information for schools, businesses and the public. View the recorded webinar.
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Register for Day 2 of the Continuing Education Virtual Conference |
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9:00 - 10:30 AM: Successful TUR Implementation Stories
Featured speakers for this session include Shuai Duo of Riverdale Mills, Dan Lopes of CD Aero, Lee Reeves of River Street Metal Finishing, Greg Morose and Joy Onasch of TURI, and Terry McCormack of Umicore. Massachusetts companies use the TUR Planning process to identify and assess opportunities to reduce their use of toxic chemicals. This session will highlight a few recent examples of successful implementation followed by a panel discussion about company experiences and lessons learned.
3:00 - 4:30 PM: Economics Evaluations 102 - Building a Stronger Case for Implementation
The featured speaker for this session is Rob Sarnie of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. At our spring virtual conference we reviewed economic evaluation methods for TUR Planners. In this session we will dive deeper into some of the tools and tips Planners can use to help make a stronger strategic business case for implementation of TUR methods. It will also help you after your business case is approved by giving more tips to set up, track, analyze variances and adjust your costs appropriately to achieve success for your case.
View October 27 Session Presentations
The first half of the virtual Continuing Education conference that took place on Tuesday, October 27, was well attended, with nearly 90 people participating. View the presentations and webinars: Safer Cleaning and Disinfecting, TURA Data Website and the TURA Program Update.
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Celebrating Manufacturing Month |
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In collaboration with MassMEP (the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership) and Project LEARN (Lowell Educational Alliance Resource Network), TURI reached out to 138 Lowell High School students to celebrate Manufacturing Month on October 15. The team hosted four virtual sessions with different STEM focused classes and interacted with them about manufacturing in Massachusetts, internship opportunities and how to keep workplaces safe by reducing toxic chemical use. The team hopes to make this an annual event. |
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October 30: Meeting of the Advisory Committee to the Administrative Council on Toxics Use Reduction
The Advisory Committee to the TURA Administrative Council will meet virtually on October 30 at 12:30 PM. View the agenda for topics and log in details. The materials include:
For more information, contact: Tiffany Skogstrom, Acting Executive Director, TURA Administrative Council.
November 18: Science Advisory Board Meeting
The next meeting of the Science Advisory Board (SAB) will be held virtually via Zoom on November 18, at noon. Connection details and meeting materials will be available prior to the meeting. View the agenda.
Please email Heather Tenney if you have any difficulties accessing the meeting or meeting materials.
November 20: Public Hearing to adopt EPCRA TRI PFAS Chemicals
A virtual public hearing will be held on November 20, 1:00 - 3:00 PM, to discuss the Administrative Council vote to adopt recently added EPCRA TRI PFAS chemicals onto the TURA list. More information is available in the TURA Program Update; meeting information will be posted on TURI’s calendar prior to the event. View the public notice.
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Reminder: TURI staff are available via email, phone or Zoom to talk about TUR planning, training, research, grants, lab testing plans or other issues.
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