For over 40 years, KLN Steel Products has provided federal agencies, primarily
through the GSA, with furniture that is known for its extra long
life cycle. Our furniture is constructed from steel, the most widely
recycled material in North America. These products are manufactured
in a new facility that has been designed for “environmentally
preferable” production technologies and methods.
KLN has always taken the common sense approach in designing both
quality and durability into its products. This equates to an item
of furniture that does not have to be replaced for a long, long
time. Our furniture will commonly exceed the life cycle of wood
furniture by two to three times. The life cycle assessment of KLN’s
products must include the many federal agencies using our furniture
that have been in service for over twenty-five years, and plan to
continue to use the furniture for years to come. Simply put, if
an agency does not have to replace furniture every 7-10 years, no
energy is expended, and no disposal issues need to be considered.
This is, by definition, “waste prevention.”
KLN’s primary material is steel. Steel is the
most recycled post consumer material used in North America. More steel
is recycled than all other metals, paper, glass and plastic combined.
Industry wide, in 1998, 70 million tons of steel scrap was recycled,
for a 63.8% overall recycling rate. Steel that is recycled when compared
to virgin ore requires 74% of the energy, generates 86% less air pollution,
and 76% less water pollution. Recycled steel accounts for well over
half of the steel produced in the U.S.
KLN specifies steel to meet certain performance characteristics
that will yield quality furniture. The advantage of steel versus
other materials, such as plastics and woods, is that the content
of recycled steel does not degrade these performance characteristics.
The steel recycled from a thirty-year-old KLN chest can be reprocessed
into a new KLN chest.
KLN’s manufacturing process sends 100% of all off-fall, slugs
and scrap to recycling centers as a method of waste reduction. Typical
post-consumer recycling rates for major steel products include 72%
of appliances and 92% of automobiles. While there is no industry
data on recycling of steel-based furniture, the institutional nature
of KLN’s market should place the recycling rate between that
of consumer appliances and the more traditional reclamation of automobiles.
This is, by definition “waste reduction.”
KLN’s new facility was designed around the newest steel coating
technology. For the previous 32 years, the company had been successfully
spraying its products with liquid coating. Now, the products are
coated with powder that is cured in an oven. This offers superior
durability and performance while eliminating waste and pollutants.
Powder coating is in the enviable position of completely eliminating
ozone layer eroding VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds), while water
based paints for industrial usage (one of the best of the liquid
coatings) is still likely to release 1 to 2 pounds of VOC per gallon.
Traditional solvent-based liquid paint contains approximately 7.25
pounds of reducing solvents per gallon of paint. Powder has none.
When compared to wood finishing systems, to cover 1000-sq. ft.,
a lacquer 3-coat system will release approximately 196 pounds VOC,
a good solvent-based liquid paint onto steel will release approximately
7 pounds VOC, and powder will release 0 pounds VOC. Because powder
coatings do not contain solvents, exhausting or venting to the outdoors
of the curing ovens are not required to remove solvent fumes.
In the powder coating process, waste is greatly reduced by overspray
recovery units that recycle and reuse 95-99% of the powder, compared
to the material utilization of 40-70% for a liquid paint system.
With powder coatings there is no overspray sludge to accumulate
and dispose. Powder coatings require no solvents, no mixing rooms
and no flash-off zones. Clean up is accomplished without solvents.
These environmental attributes also apply to KLN’s powder
coating suppliers’ production, verses their liquid paint manufacturing
counterparts.
Superior performance of powder coatings when compared to liquid
paint will extend the useful life of the product. KLN’s powder
coating is harder, more scratch resistant, less likely to peel if
dented, and more chemical and corrosion resistant, than past KLN
products which themselves are performing beyond normal life cycles.
As an example, salt spray resistance test results (an indication
of the corrosion resistance and the adhesion of a coating) have
increased from 100 hours to 700 hours with KLN’s powder coating.
To add longevity to the products, the hybrid powder coatings that
have been formulated for KLN can be repaired, touched-up and even
re-painted.
Powder coatings do not interfere with the recyclability of the
steel substrate and are in fact classified as a “non-hazardous”
waste when disposed.
KLN produces tops and panels for its products composed of thermolaminates
and high-pressure laminate bonded to engineered substrates, eliminating
the need for solvent based wood finishing systems. High-pressure
laminate applied to substrates offers proven wear and impact resistance
superior to both melamine coated substrates, and finished wood components,
resulting in extending the product’s duty-cycle. These laminates
are produced from 40% recovered materials, and contain the same
basic, renewable materials as kraft paper. Thermolaminates eliminate
the use of edge banding and sharp corners, both wear points, as
well as creating a moisture barrier by encasing the substrates on
five sides.
Dimensional lumber utilizes only 63% of a tree. Engineered substrates
from trees, on the other hand, convert all but about 5% of the balance
of the tree, processing material that was once either burnt or disposed
of as solid waste into usable products. KLN has introduced an annually
renewable wheat straw based substrate to our market that has superior
moisture and mechanical properties than other typical panels, that
is formaldehyde free, and that qualifies for various LEEDS categories.
Recently, KLN purchased a wood chipper and dust collection system
that converts all wood scrap to sawdust. The dust is then collected
for recycling. The recycled wood chips and sawdust can then be used
in the production of engineered wood products, such as particle
board and medium density fiberboard. Recycling scrap wood diverts
waste from our landfills and eliminates burning that pollutes our
air.
The delivery of an undamaged unit on-site is a positive alternative
to manufacturing a replacement in terms of energy and materials.
For the last three years KLN has consistently reduced the cardboard
content of it’s packaging by more than half while decreasing
shipping damage. Recently, the company brought a “packing
on demand” system on line that custom tailors packaging to
the size and quantity run. This has already reduced cardboard consumption
and shipping damage. Corrugated cardboard used by KLN contain at
least 50% recycled materials, while the kraft papers used in packaging
are from 100% recycled materials. Packaging is normally sent to
a recycling center after installation by the user agency.
KLN’s manufacturing process and facility is a 99% solvent-free
environment and the company is as dedicated to the conservation
of our natural resources as it is to the elimination of pollutants.
All forklifts have been converted from gasoline to either natural
gas or electric power, or have been replaced by electric scissor
lifts and gravity fed roller tables. Cooling water for spot-welding
previously sent to the sewer is now recycled, saving several million
gallons of water per year as well as the energy used downstream
in reclamation or treatment.
As demonstration of our commitment, KLN has worked with the State
of Texas environmental authorities in a unique arrangement to reclaim
a 300,000 square foot factory building, which had been idle due
to environmental concerns. The building is now fully occupied; the
property tax value has doubled, and the original polluter has been
brought back to re-mediate the contamination. In 2000, KLN was awarded the Environmental Excellence Award from
the San Antonio Water System for water conservation.
Sources:
Composite Wood Council, Dow Bio-Products, Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Jones-Blair Paint Company,
KLN Steel Products, Mission City Container,
Steel Recycling Institute, Williamette Industries, Wilsonart International