Batavia’s Suncast Corporation announces push for sustainability

BATAVIA – With the word sun in its name, Suncast Corporation in Batavia is pushing ahead to have its West Chicago distribution centers – 1.5 million square feet – be 100% solar-powered by the end of 2022, officials announced in a news release.

Also by then, all Suncast manufacturing facilities will be partially solar powered, said Michael Anastasio, the company’s general counsel who oversees legal and compliance issues.

“I think we are really leading the charge as a manufacturing company,” Anastasio said.

The initiative, called Brilliant by Design, will generate more 14 million kilowatts of clean energy and save millions of pounds of carbon emissions, according to the news release.

“At Suncast, we are always looking toward the horizon for improving our processes, products, and environment to create meaningful impact,” Jim Ahlborn, president and CEO of Suncast Corporation, stated in the release. “As a company with ‘sun’ in its name, it’s only fitting that we harness the power of the sun for good. Renewable energy is key to our sustainability strategy and this solar milestone is the first of many to come.”

The push is all part of fulfilling the company’s three core values of innovation, sustainability and being inspired by its people.

“Our goal is zero waste to landfill,” Anastasio said. “We’re not throwing away anything into a landfill already. We recycle all of our scrap and reuse it to make all our products and what we can’t use we sell to other recyclers.”

Suncast uses resin, a highly engineered plastic, to make consumer products for outdoor use, such as sheds, deck boxes, hose reels, rakes, shovels, storage cabinets, Anastasio said.

“It’s made entirely Illinois and made entirely in the U.S.,” Anastasio said.

And when the products are at the end of their useful life, they can be recycled, he said.

“We make them to last a lot of years and a part of our plan will be to set up a closed loop system. Anyone now can return one of our products to us to be recycled,” Anastasio said. “Don’t throw them away. Have them recycled.”

The goal is to develop a national network of recycling centers to take back and recycle all Suncast products by 2025.

The company also offers replacement parts and uses only non-hazardous, water-based paint for all its products, the release stated.

The company’s goal for sustainability includes reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25% across all its facilities by 2025 with zero waste to landfill.

“That is our ultimate goal – zero net carbon emissions,” Anastasio said.

The company also uses other emissions reduction strategies, such as swapping wooden skids and blocks for recyclable corrugated cardboard versions.

Suncast has two distribution centers in West Chicago. Its headquarters in Batavia has two buildings, one for manufacturing and the other partly for manufacturing and partly for distribution, he said. Its future includes adding on to the Batavia facility next year to add capacity, Anastasio said.

The company is also seeking to promote equal opportunity initiatives to achieve a diverse executive and director-level positions to be held by women and minorities by 2025, Anastasio said.

“We are also working with AutonomyWorks to find autistic employees to work for us,” Anastasio said. “Our plan is to have up to 40 workers with autism to help with manufacturing.”

The company is also offering an apprenticeship program is intended to benefit underserved communities with community colleges having at least 50% minority students populations, according to the release.

Suncast will pay the entire tuition at community colleges for students to learn a trade during their apprenticeship – and get paid – and then have a job, Anastasio said.

“Younger students who are technically oriented and want to work in manufacturing can be trained, not have all that college debt, work and get money for it,” Anastasio said. “Suncast will provide a job – a good job.”