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At the end of the day, manufacturers look to meet one goal: create an outstanding product that meets the needs of consumers while maximizing profitability. In order to stay competitive, however, they now need to be concerned about one more thing -- environmental responsibility. Luckily, today's new chemical technologies and practices allow manufacturers to continue producing quality goods without causing environmental damage.

Acuity Brands Lighting, Inc. (Conyers, GA), a worldwide manufacturer of commercial, industrial, institutional and residential lighting fixtures, has implemented such technology, saving more than $240,000 in its first year of environmental changes. The company is North America's largest manufacturer of lighting fixtures and equipment for commercial, industrial, outdoor and residential applications. Its parent company, Acuity Brands, Inc. (Atlanta, GA), had fiscal year 2006 net sales of approximately $2.4 billion and employs approximately 10,000 people in operations throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

In 2004, Ben Decker, the corporate environmental manager for Acuity, became aware that the waste discharge at Acuity's 1 million sq ft manufacturing facility in Cochran was above the permissible environmental limit for phosphorus in the state of Georgia. Like many other manufacturers, the plant was using iron phosphate and phosphoric acid to seal metal lighting components before they entered the painting process. However, those chemicals created considerable phosphorous bearing sludge that the facility's waste stream carried out in the environment.

To lower its phosphorus discharge, Acuity spent $250,000 and several months of labor to install a waste treatment system. The system served the facility's 40,000 sq ft painting operation, including ovens, painting booths and washers. At the end of the day, however, this process was not cost-effective and did not prevent the harsh environmental effects of using phosphorous-based chemicals. So the company again began searching for an alternative technology to meet its waste treatment needs.

In 2006, Decker consulted with Houghton International, Inc., Acuity's paint pre-treatment supplier. Instead of focusing funds on new waste treatment systems, Houghton looked to make a chemical change upstream that would help produce less waste. It saw a potential fit for one of its products in Acuity's painting preparation operations: Houghto-Prep ZP technology, a zirconium phosphate, iron-rich conversion coating chemistry, promotes paint adhesion and corrosion resistance in metals used in manufacturing.

The proposed coating could clean and pre-treat at a low-temperature range -- ambient (room temperature) to 100 deg F. In most cases, the product would not require system heat, reducing the amount of energy output during pre-treating. The coating would also reduce water consumption because it requires minimal rinsing and can be prepared without the need for reverse osmosis or deionization. Working with Decker, Houghton tested its conversion coating chemistry at the Cochran plant. In the first few months of testing, Acuity experienced significant reductions in water use because the product did not create a waste stream, as well as energy (gas) costs previously associated with prepping the metal with phosphate chemicals.

In order to fully integrate the new chemistry, Acuity engineers worked closely with Al Scott, the plant's paint line supervisor. Under Scott's watchful eye, the team performed a complete cleanout of the washers in the painting preparation line. When manufacturers run high-temperature washer operations, water evaporates and solids scale up in the washers. So, the cleaning process removed buildup caused by the iron phosphate process. Cleanout began at the end of production on a Friday. With Houghton's guidance, Acuity discharged and cleaned the washers, each taking six to eight hours to de-scale. They added the new product to the washer tanks and then recharged them.