Background
The AlphaGary Corporation has a manufacturing facility in Leominster, MA. AlphaGary develops and manufactures specialty PVC and halogen-free compounds; including a variety of TPE elastomer alloys. It produces plastic compounds for a variety of end uses, including wire & cable, automotive, consumer goods, packaging, and other applications. The company employs 170 people at its Leominster facility and about 400 worldwide.
Toxics Use Reduction
Because of changes in market conditions influenced by European-legislated restrictions and other environmental regulations requiring companies to restrict or prohibit the use of lead in their products, AlphaGary decided to design their compounds for the wire and cable industry without using lead and cadmium. AlphaGary investigated less toxic materials by applying toxic use reduction techniques, taking into consideration cost and performance factors as well as impacts on the environment and worker health and safety in the design criteria. These R&D efforts led the company to suitable, less toxic alternatives. Through extensive study and product testing involving their customers, including representatives from the telecommunications industry, AlphaGary found replacements for lead in their wire and cable products. The lead compounds used as heat stabilizers in many of their formulations were replaced with calcium-zinc and barium-zinc substitutes, with no loss of product quality or performance either from a functional or fire safety perspective.
Early R&D success allowed the company to adopt a policy of not using lead in any newly-developed products unless their customers specifically required it or if the end use requirements could not be satisfied without it. In order for the company to improve their competitive advantage, they needed to develop greater internal capabilities for product design, evaluation and testing. The revised testing process required significant investment in analytical instrumentation including DSC, TGA, XRF spectroscopy and cone / bomb calorimetry. These analytical techniques measure heat release rates and fuel loads that helped to predict fire performance. These tools ensured not only greater development capabilities but also accelerated product certification through the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) or other third-party Listing processes. (The UL process requires that wire and cable manufacturers achieve Listing approvals to meet certain safety and end-use performance criteria.) Switching from lead and lead compounds required few if any adaptations in AlphaGary manufacturing equipment.
AlphaGary is also an active participant in the Wire and Cable supply chain meetings sponsored by the Toxics Use Reduction Institute. The supply chain effort brings industry clusters together, providing opportunities for networking, education and shared knowledge to help Massachusetts business reduce toxics in products and maintain global market leadership. These meetings help AlphaGary better understand industry trends and stay ahead of changes in regulations. Specifically, participation in the supply chain effort helped them develop strategies to reduce lead from their manufacturing process.
Results
Reductions
In total, AlphaGary lowered its use of lead compounds by 30%, a significant reduction. To achieve these results, the company successfully applied toxic use reduction methods and strategies involving several different departments including R&D, Purchasing, Marketing, Sales, Engineering, Quality, Maintenance, and Production. Working with its suppliers, AlphaGary was also able to change the packaging for many of its lead-based raw materials. This change significantly reduced the risk of handling lead-based materials and decreased emissions. AlphaGary continues to work with UL and with customers to accelerate acceptance and preferences for new polymer compounds with lower or no lead compounds in their formulations and to reduce the use of lead compounds and other toxics.
Economics
AlphaGary allocated significant R&D resources developing new product formulations to replace lead and lead compounds. From 1998 to 2002, along with the human resources, AlphaGary estimates it invested in excess of $1,000,000 for analytical equipment as well as customer evaluations and UL Listing approvals for the lead-free products. (The cost to achieve a third-party cable Listing is approximately $8,000 per cable.) This investment of time and money significantly reduced the amount of effort to develop and qualify new products, allowing AlphaGary to bring new products to market faster. Lead reduction efforts continue as customers respond to market drivers. The reductions in lead use and increase in manufacturing efficiency have allowed AlphaGary to benefit from this investment by maintaining its capability as a technology leader and to retain its competitive global supply position to its customers.
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Published 2005