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La-Z-Boy Recycling Project

The La-Z-Boy plant has been recycling - scrap poly foam, scrap Dacron and fiber, cardboard boxes, pallets, scrap metal and saw dust - for years. However, after implementing an EMS, the employee team found there were other items going into the trash that could be recycled.

A recycling goal was first discussed in December 2003. Over the next three months, the team determined that plastic bags, paper, plastic pop bottles and cardboard tubes should also be recycled, found a recycler, and established an in-house program. The first pick-up of the newly identified recyclable material was in April 2004. The overall amount of trash that is sent to the landfill is monitored monthly. Also known is the weight of the recyclable materials that would have gone to the landfill had the new program not been started.

La-Z-Boy Utah has since reduced trash going to the landfill. In its 2005 application to Clean Utah, its stated goals were to reduce solid waste going to the landfill by five percent, measured in pounds per equivalent piece of furniture produced.  In its first year in the program, the company realized a 15 percent reduction. The company has also cut trash hauls to the landfill from twice to once a week. Revenue realized in 2004 - between revenue generated and cost avoidance for landfill and hauling fees - was over $28,000.  In 2005, the companied further cut disposal cost by $11,178. By the end of 2007, an addition $6,860 had been trimmed from disposal costs.

This table depicts the new items recycled after the implementation of the EMS program.

An additional 226 tons of material was recycled in 2007. A big part of this was accomplished by finding a way to recycle scrap fabric. Rather than sending it to a landfill, the fabric is now being used as a alternative fuel source at a cement plant. The recycled poly foam goes back to the original vendor. The cardboard goes to a paper mill for reuse. Rocky Mountain Recycling picks up our plastic, pop bottles, paper and cardboard. Pallets are recycled through Pallets of Utah and the scrap metal is recycled through Valley Metal. The sawdust goes to a live stock dealer to use as live stock bedding.