Practicing Environmental Responsibility at HPNE
Learn what steps HPNE is taking in their everyday operations to make the company environmentally friendly.
Saturday, April 22nd is Earth Day, and to celebrate, HPNE is reflecting on the environmental sustainability initiatives currently found across our facilities. Our values at High Purity New England enforce the belief that without social and environmental responsibility, we are unable to truly create an efficient business model.
Earth Day, first celebrated in 1970, was originally celebrated through demonstrations, teach-ins, and protests commonly found on college campuses. Earth day gained global recognition in 1990, leading to over 193 countries celebrating annually as of 2023.
Each year, Earthday.Org chooses a theme for the holiday, with the theme of 2023 being “Invest in Our Planet.” In solidarity with that theme, here are some of the ways HPNE has invested in our planet, and some of the ways we hope to increase environmental responsibility in the future.
Automatic and Natural Light
For power conservation, automatic lighting has been installed in multiple locations throughout our facilities. According to The Eco Guide, using motion sensor lighting can reduce your buildings energy consumption, on average, 35%-45%. In extreme cases, this energy consumption reduction can be as much as 75%.
In addition to motion sensor lighting, the High Purity New England buildings also prioritize natural light. Large windows can be found in most rooms throughout our buildings, allowing more rooms to keep overhead lighting off in favor of utilizing the natural light throughout the day. Natural lighting not only reduces the energy consumption in our offices, but has been proven to improve the wellness and health of employees. Benefits of natural light can include lower frequencies of headaches, eyestrains, and drowsiness in employees.
Cardboard Compactor
From office supplies to manufacturing parts, HPNE frequently receives packages which are often contained in cardboard boxes. Due to the high volume of cardboard received on a week to week basis, employees use a cardboard compactor to recycle the material into bales. Cardboard compactors are an efficient recycling method for many reasons, including being able to recycle a higher volume of material, lower fossil fuel usage, diverting materials from the landfill, and saving trees.
Water Conservation
Throughout each facility, HPNE has multiple water refill stations. These refill stations provide clean, touchless solutions for fresh water to employees, promoting the use of refillable water bottles in favor of plastic ones. It is estimated that Americans alone buy around 29 million plastic water bottles every year, of which only one in every six is likely to be recycled. This has led to over 2 million tons of plastic water bottles polluting landfills throughout the United States.
Another method of water conservation used in HPNE facilities is the implementation of dual flush toilets present in some of our restrooms. According to Forbes, Dual Flush toilets have been found to save a family of four up to 13,000 gallons of water a year.
Going Paperless
Paper, though recyclable, makes up about 26% of landfill waste. Annually in the United States, approximately 68 million trees are needed to keep up with our demand for paper products. Many believe that this number should be decreasing due to the rise in electronic usage, but it is expected that demand for paper will double by 2030.
HPNE is in the process of going paperless in 2023 through the implementation of new systems. By moving many of our heavy paperwork processes to a digital format, we believe we can heavily reduce our waste footprint as an organization.
Reducing Our Carbon Footprint
Carbon emissions, or the release of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide, has become one of the leading causes of global warming. In 2021, the NOAA Global Monitoring Lab discovered that carbon dioxide led to around two-thirds of all heating influence among man made greenhouse gasses.
HPNE is continuously investing in new ways to reduce our carbon footprint, and is ultimately working towards a carbon neutral company framework. Overall, we hope that the changes we have made and continue to make will lead to a positive impact on our environment, no matter how big or small.
For resources on how you can take steps towards environmental responsibility, visit Good Energy’s Ultimate 20 Step Guide to Eco-Friendly Living.
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About HPNE
As the industry needs grow, High Purity New England, Inc. continues to supply the biopharmaceutical industry with a range of innovative products, from drug discovery and development to fill-finish, including their flagship product, custom single-use assemblies, as well as pumps, sensors, bioreactor systems, storage and handling solutions and other single-use solutions. Along with their own manufactured products for the global market, they are also a distributor for more than 18 brands in North America.
