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Mission Accomplished Pages
The below pages list Ei endeavors considered complete via a sale, term expiration or simply mission accomplished!
Ei Industry Tours – RR Era
Prior to embarking on program | practice development, Ei strives to understand current industry practices and baselines. Tours of industry leader operations is an effective, efficient, and fun avenue for garnering education and support. The below tours were hosted during Ei’s Recycling Refinement Era; thus, Mission Accomplished!
Urban Agriculture Tours
Atlanta, GA
Ei orchestrated a tour of Atlanta’s robust urban agriculture (ag) for Fulton County and EPA Region 4. The tour educated on the urban ag systems in-place, their connectivity (or lack thereof), the far-reaching implications of urban farms beyond providing fresh, seasonal produce to impoverished neighborhoods, and the valuable role compost plays on the farms. The ZWA Blog article, Urban Agriculture: vital on many fronts, documents the tour while the Ei FB album, 04-03-15 Atlanta Urban Ag Tours, is a pictorial recap of the monumental day.
GenAgain Tour
March 29, 2013
Lithia Springs, GA
Ei Chair Scott Seydel and Ei Founder Holly Elmore toured the recently opened GenAgain plant in Lithia Springs. Using innovative technology, GenAgain accepts “dirty plastic” generally land filled or sent overseas and returns it to petroleum. The tour is featured in the ZWA Blog post, “Seeing is Believing” – magic of tours;, in the overview of Ei’s March tour marathon.
Tennessee State-Prison Tours
September 26 – 27, 2013
Chattanooga, TN
Federal and state prison systems are a strong potential labor and facility resource for Recycling-Refinement systems in the development phase. A group of Ei Partners, Supporters, and pals converged on TN in late September to meet Fred Roach of TRICOR (Tennessee’s prison-employment system), tour operations, and explore synergies | opportunities. The ZWA Blog post, Prisons: Valuable Resource for Recycling Refinement Systems?!, provides a brief history of Ei | TRICOR relationship and an overview of the impressive tours; the Ei FB album, 09-13 TRICOR TN Prison Tours, is a pictorial recap. Below is the tours itinerary:
Indy Zero-Waste Tours
August 1 & 2, 2013
Indianapolis | Lafayette, IN
Ei Partners, Friends, and pals traveled to Indianapolis to tour zero-waste facilities at Piazza Produce and Subaru. Ei Partner Heritage Interactive Services (Interactive) hosted the Subaru Automotive of Indiana zero-waste manufacturing-plant tour. The tours substantiated the imperative role on-site MRFs – material recovery facilities – play in profitable recycling programs.
For the first tour, Zero_Waste Warrior Scott Lutocka – Piazza Produce Facility Manager – hosted the Ei group at the only zero-waste foodservice-distribution center in the nation. A PPT overview of Piazza’s zero-waste journey is downloadable below. The following day the group traveled to the Subaru plant in Lafayette where Interactive is responsible for their groundbreaking zero-waste program. The ZWA Blog post, Source-Separation Key to Maximum Recycling PROFITS, is an overview of the tour and the Ei FB album, 08-13 Indy Zero-Waste Tours, gives the pictorial recap.
Wilbros Organic Recovery & Biofuels Tour
March 29, 2013
Toccoa, GA
Ei orchestrated a tour of Wilbros food-waste composting facility for Michael Cheyne, Atlanta Airport director of asset management & sustainability. As of the tour Wilbros was the only Georgia-permitted composting site accepting food waste. Located 90-miles north of Atlanta, only one hauler is collecting food waste for delivery to Wilbros. The Ei FB album, 03-29-13 Wilbros Organic Recovery & Biofuels Tour, is a tour pictorial recap. The tour is featured in the ZWA Blog post, “Seeing is Believing” – magic of tours, in the overview of Ei’s March tour marathon.
Pratt Recycling MRF Tour
March 25, 2018
East Point, GA
The Pratt Recycling MRF (material-recovery facility) receives the Atlanta Airport recycling stream. Ei orchestrated a tour of the Pratt MRF for Michael Cheyne – Atlanta Airport director of asset management & sustainability – as a visual of the stream’s destination. The Ei FB album, 03-25-13 Pratt MRF Tour, is a tour pictorial recap. The tour is featured in the ZWA Blog post, “Seeing is Believing” – magic of tours, an overview of Ei’s March-tour marathon.
Indy Organic Tours
September 24 & 25, 2012
Indianapolis, IN
With Ei Partners Heritage Interactive Services and Simon Property Group corporate headquarters located in Indianapolis, IN, many Ei activities revolve around the city. Zero-waste icon Scott Lutocka, Facilities Manager of Piazza Produce, and long-time Ei pal Chris Pierce of Organics Management Solutions also call Indy home. In September 2012, Ei Partners, Supporters, and pals converged on Indy for two days touring local organics-recycling systems in-place.
The two action-packed days began with an eye-opening tour of zero waste in action at Piazza Produce. The ZWA Blog post, Zero Waste is a Team Sport, gives an overview of the tour; the Ei FB album, 09-24-12 Piazza Produce Zero Waste Tour, gives the pictorial recap. The FB album is a valuable asset as Scott took the time to give in-depth comments on the pictures. Note food-waste collection for compost was the final material-destination shift that put Piazza Produce over the 90% diversion zero-waste threshold.
Immediately following the Piazza tour, the group visited one of GreenCycle of Indiana’s mulching operations. Scott was thrilled to join the tour. GreenCycle said YES to meeting the food-waste composting regulations, giving Piazza along with Indy foodservice operators, a destination other than landfill for their food waste. The Ei FB album, 09-24-12 GreenCycle Mulching Site Tour, gives the pictorial recap of the tour.
On September 25, the Ei Tour group headed to Lafayette for a Subaru plant tour focused on food-waste elimination | reduction. After Subaru, the group headed further north to BioTown Ag in Reynolds, IN for a tour of the on-farm anaerobic-digestion (A.D) system. Inspired by the no-waste farm, the ZWA Blog post, Perpetual Life Cycle System – Simplicity is Key, gives an overview of the farm A.D. system. Chris along with his partner are the masterminds behind the Blue Streams Portable Anaerobic Digesters – impressive with the commercial-use potential. The Ei FB album, 09-25-12 OSM On-Farm A.D. Tour.
South Georgia Farm Tours
May 14, 2012
White Oak Pastures
May 15, 2012
Thompson Farms Smokehouse
In May 2012 a group of Ei Partners and friends traveled to South Georgia for farm tours. Learning the farm’s practices and assessing the current scenario for protein-transport packaging were the catalysts for the trip. Ei chose family-run farms committed to sustainability and animal welfare at the core of their ethics and operations.
The farms, White Oak Pastures and Thompson Farms Smokehouse, are Whole Foods suppliers and meet the stringent Whole Foods 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating Standards with a 5+ designation. The ZWA Blog article, Consumer Demand: A Powerful Voice to Affect Change, chronicles the empowering tours.
For a pictorial recap of the farm tours, see the Ei FB albums, 05-14-12 White Oak Pastures Tour, and 05-15-12 Thompson Farms Tour. WARNING: Some Thompson Farms photos are graphic yet honor the process and the livestock who gave their lives to fulfill consumer demand for animal protein.
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