Boeing

Recipients of Boeing’s 19th annual Environmental Leadership Awards are living up to the sustainable operations tagline – it’s not just what we do; but how we do it.

Employees from Everett to Chennai – including two winning teams from Winnipeg – shared their proven environmental conservation projects on how to best engage employees; reduce solid, hazardous waste; conserve energy and water; and maintain high compliance standards. The online ceremony was hosted by 2021 Environment Champion, Kristin Marshall, who was featured in the 2022 Sustainability Report.

“We continue to make great strides in our environmental leadership and I am so grateful for all of these contributions and accomplishments,” said Chief Sustainability Officer Chris Raymond.

2022 Environment Champion

Jon Kelley, Facilities & Asset Management Reclamation Team member in Auburn, is Boeing’s 2022 Environment Champion during the award presentation. He was recognized for his environmental passion and 40 years of commitment to Boeing.

Throughout his Boeing career, Kelley has demonstrated his commitment to sustainability by collaborating cross-functionally to ensure compliance to environmental regulations, providing business partners with guidance to maximize conservation efforts and manage reuse and recycling methods for all materials, including those outside of his scope of work, to save money and reduce landfill waste.

Additionally, Kelley’s leadership demonstrates Boeing values through his dedication to training and inspiring employees to follow his lead in prioritizing conservation and collaboration.

“Jon brings heart, wisdom and skill to reduce waste to landfill, conserve valuable resources and ensure we’re compliant with regulations that protect the environment and the public,” said Beth Schryer, vice president, F&AM. “Jon embodies the exact attributes we need in our employees to achieve sustainable operations.”

Kelley humbly describes his work as simply: “Doing the right thing to save the company money and keep things out of the landfill.”

2022 Project Winners

This year, the company selected 15 winning teams across six categories to receive Environmental Leadership Awards.

Employee Engagement Category generates ideas and actions

The Product Development Sustainability Lab in Everett hosted twelve three-hour sessions of the Sustainability Lab to brainstorm how to build on existing processes to make Boeing’s next product the most sustainable throughout its entire lifecycle and establish baseline to measure progress.

Waste Program Grading in Plant 2 resulted in an easy-to-use and effective tool to improve waste sorting in a targeted area to advance recycling efforts. 

Turn Large Equipment Off in Winnipeg fostered energy conservation impact of 303,293 kWh saving CDN $15,000 over the 22-week workshare program from the turned-off equipment.

The Site Employee Recognition project in San Antonio leveraged an existing safety-recognition forum and applied it to recognize environmental efforts by employees.  

Solid Waste Category attacks manufacturing waste, saves work time

The Dust Cap Reuse and Procurement Reduction project in Mesa mitigated the disposal of about 16,000 dust caps, used to prevent FOD, saving $33,793 and avoiding $7,596 costs annual, which also saved technicians about 1.5 hours per week of work.

The Aircraft Maintenance Waste Study at the North Boeing Field Flight Line gathered waste stream maintenance data, which will be used by BCA engineering to improve upstream and downstream opportunities sustainability in aircraft maintenance.

Hazardous Waste Category winner reduces solvent use

The Paint Pump Cleaning and Solvent Reduction project in Everett reduced painter exposure to solvents by removing filters, which reduced cleaning time, increased productivity, cut the use of solvents by more than 10,000 pounds, saving nearly $20,000 annually.

Energy Category winners focus on energy efficiency

The HVAC Minimization and Optimization project in Sylmar identified how to use existing HVAC and humidifier system which was underutilized at 50% capacity for a new system instead of installing additional rooftop equipment, saving $269,000 annually.

Environmental Booths in Winnipeg were left on during off hours, weekends and during nonproduction times. By installing occupancy sensors and upgraded LED lights, the project team saved 720,975 kWh annually – the equivalent electricity used in 60 homes per year.

The Facilities & Asset Management Energy Demand Reduction program in Mesa teamed with utility provider to lessen demand on high peak utility days during summer months to reduce energy loads. The team programmed the Building Automation System (BAS) to improve process and generate 5,400 kWh plus earn annual rebates of $30,000 annually.

Water conservation wins in Seattle

Facilities & Asset Management’s Boiler Sample Cooling Water Reclaim at the Developmental Center in Seattle reduces water use by about 2,500 gallons per day by reconfiguring piping and installing a more efficient system.

Protection, Compliance and Stewardship Category from ocean to sky

The Wave Glider Ocean Microplastics Demonstrator project was led by Product Development resulted in Boeing Global Engagement grants for ocean plastics education and demonstrated the company’s commitment to sustainability.

The Supply Chain Logistics Emissions Reduction in Chennai, India reduced GHG emissions by consolidating shipments and transiting from air to sea shipments for India suppliers.

The Greenhouse Gas Measurement Testing project in Product Development helped determine the best way to take high quality measurements from the ecoDemonstrator, enabling future capabilities for modeling and mapping of the atmosphere, working with NOAA, which will continue analyzing results and working with airlines to possibly implement GHG measurement system in commercial fleet.

Compliance Excellence in Portland reduced sampling frequency by its regulatory agency, saving time and lab costs and demonstrating sustainability stewardship, using a reverse osmosis system installed in 2014, which requires less intake water and reduces sewer discharge resulting in recycling 100 million gallons of water to date.