As the leading manufacturer of ergonomic office products, Humanscale aims to have a net positive impact on people and the planet. Our Nogales, Mexico location focuses mainly on producing components and sub-assemblies for our Fresno and Piscataway facilities, who then make the finished goods. Nogales takes great pride in improving the local landscape and biodiversity. They host annual employee planting days, during which employees tend to native gardens onsite. Humanscale Nogales also sponsored the planting of native plant varieties along the public roadway where the facility is located. Like our other Humanscale facilities, Nogales’ manufacturing water is supplied by rainwater harvested onsite to reduce their impact on the environment and to reduce their consumption of city water.
Humanscale aims to use materials as sustainably as possible. Achieving and maintaining TRUE certification is a company-wide effort that requires participation and support from multiple departments. Our Packaging Engineer and Sourcing team is called on to eliminate waste before it occurs – working diligently with suppliers to rethink and redesign packaging that enters our facilities with the goal of reducing the amount generated in the first place. They also ask suppliers to prioritize packaging that can be reused or recycled.
Our Operations team works tirelessly to ensure that the waste management systems in place are working so that the material entering our facility is being properly handled and sorted. Periodic waste audits are conducted by Operations to assess the efficacy of these systems. Any time contamination is found in a waste stream, a corrective action is taken to prevent it from reoccurring. Together, the Sustainability and Operations teams review the results of waste audits to confirm as much material as possible is meeting best use. The Sustainability and Contracts teams work together to review waste vendor agreements and pickup schedules. To meet a 90% diversion rate target, our teams met to review our progress monthly, and in 2020, Humanscale Nogales achieved the goal of diverting over 90% of non-hazardous waste from landfill.
Some specific waste strategies Nogales implemented to achieve over 90% waste diversion included being very diligent about breaking down and separating scrap materials to salvage as much material as possible and repairing all wood pallets at their onsite pallet repair shop for internal use, exports, and maintenance repairs/projects.
Humanscale has an overall goal to achieve a net positive impact on people and the planet. Reducing and managing waste and material use in a responsible and sustainable manner is imperative to realizing this goal. TRUE certification has validated that our processes are effective and that our calculations are accurate. Achieving TRUE certification taught us best practices and substantiated our waste program.