manufacturing waste reduction Virtual In-Plant Training

Virtual Trainings (VTs) offered by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Plants program are the online version of the multi-day workshops known as In-Plant Trainings. As with in-person Trainings, the VTs will train the attendees to identify energy conservation opportunities, quantify savings from those opportunities, and implement projects to realize the cost savings.

These training workshops enhance the attendees’ understanding of working principles, knowledge of best practices, and capability of analyzing the energy performance of industrial energy systems. As of now, DEO has hosted 31 virtual trainings with more than 2,200 participants and over $11M energy savings opportunities have been identified.

The Better Plants program will deliver virtual INPLTs for Manufacturing Waste Reduction (Waste Reduction VINPLTs) from Feb 18 to Apr 8, 2025. The Waste Reduction VINPLTs will be performed online by waste reduction experts. The Waste Reduction VINPLTs comprise eight (8) 2.5-hour online training sessions that will be delivered every Tuesday 10:00 AM–12:30 PM ET for eight (8) consecutive weeks. Participating in the VINPLTs is free and open to all US manufacturers.

To maximize the benefits from attending VINPLTs, homework assignments will be given to participants at the end of each session and be due the following week. Each session has 30 minutes at the beginning to address questions related to training materials and homework assignments. These homework assignments are designed to enhance participants’ understanding on the energy systems, identify and quantify energy savings opportunities. At the end of the training events, each participating facility is expected to create some slides to summarize identified energy savings opportunities with estimated savings and present to company management teams. The subject matter experts and TAMs will help partner personnel develop these opportunities and associated project justification content, e.g. technical analyses, and payback calculations.

If operational data collection is needed, diagnostic equipment can be arranged and shipped to partners. The Better Plants diagnostic equipment is available on a first come, first serve basis.

Agenda for manufacturing waste reduction Virtual in-plant training

Feb 18 to Apr 8, 2025; every Tuesday 10:00 AM–12:30 PM ET (2.0-hour formal training + optional 0.5-hour Q&A)

Week 1 – Introduction: Waste Diversion and Reduction 101 (Feb 18, 2025)

  • SSC will provide an introduction of our organization and experience in assisting manufacturers to effectively manage and reduce their waste streams (less than 10 minutes)
  • Overview of common acronyms and terms
  • Overview of waste diversion hierarchy
  • Review hierarchy developed by Better Plant
  • Overview of waste streams generated by industry, by building type, etc.
  • Overview of waste legislation and regulation

Week 2 – How to Effectively Track and Measure Your Waste (Feb 25, 2025)

  • Overview of tools and methods manufacturers can employ to measure and track their waste streams
  • Overview of typical charge categories for waste, how to correlate procurement and waste information, overview of typical waste invoices, etc.
  • Best practices for conducting on-site waste characterization
  • How to quantify findings from a waste characterization
  • Recommended material handling procedures, signage, waste containers and receptacles, and layout in the plant

Week 3 – Source Reduction and Waste Minimization Techniques (Mar 4, 2025)

  • Solutions for managing and reducing waste streams by industry and building type
  • Overview of the varying benefits of the proposed solutions/strategies

Week 4 – Finding Outlets for Hard to Manage Waste Streams (Mar 11, 2025)

  • Overview of hard to manage waste streams including but not limited to shrink wrap, sludge, hazardous waste, etc.
  • Recommendations for identifying outlets for the hard to manage waste streams

Week 5 – Construction Waste Management and Green Building Certifications (Mar 18, 2025)

  • Overview of best practices for handing construction and demolition waste
  • How to develop construction and demolition waste management plans
  • How sustainable construction waste management can contribute to green building standards such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)

Week 6 – Scope 3 Emission Considerations – Responsible Sourcing, Procurement, and Waste Generated in Operations (Mar 25, 2025)

  • How to integrate responsible sourcing and procurement language into specification or supplier terms and conditions
  • Scope 3 emission calculation methods

Week 7 – Implementation of a Waste Diversion Program – Developing a Roadmap to Zero Waste (Apr 1, 2025)

  • How to prioritize waste reduction opportunities
  • How different business groups can employ strategies to reduce waste generation

Week 8 – Conclusions, Summaries, and Wrap Up Presentations (Apr 8, 2025)

  • Summarize key points from previous sessions
  • Participants present their findings
Get to Know the Presenter

TBD