DES MOINES – Eleven businesses will participate in DNR’s 2017 Pollution Prevention (P2) Intern Program. Upper-level college and university students work on-site at Iowa companies for 12- or 24-week paid internships to research solutions and implement pollution prevention strategies that will increase efficiency, reduce costs and help meet companies’ environmental goals.
Since 2001, more than 175 Iowa companies, hospitals, universities and government agencies have participated in the unique program, accumulating more than $81.9 million in savings as a result of using resources more efficiently and improving environmental performance.
Environmental benefits achieved include the reduction of:
- 2.59 billion gallons of water;
- 221,766 tons of solid waste;
- 8,588 tons of hazardous waste;
- 384.4 million kilowatt hours of electricity;
- 9.98 million therms of energy.
Companies participating in the 2017 program (listed alphabetically by town):
Ames: Hach
Cedar Rapids: DuPont Industrial Biosciences
Charles City: Zoetis
Des Moines: Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations
Des Moines: Principal Financial Group
Marshalltown: JBS USA, LLC
Mason City: Curries
Sioux City: Smithfield – Sioux City
Storm Lake: Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc.
Wever: Iowa Fertilizer Company
Woodward: Woodward Resource Center
Funding for the P2 Intern Program includes federal grants, portions of solid waste tonnage fees and cost share contributed by the host companies.
Pollution Prevention Services also provides confidential, non-regulatory, environmental technical assistance in the form of assessments, Environmental Management Systems development assistance, workshops, and access to the P2 Resource Library. These services are offered at no-cost to help companies reduce expenses through source-reduction strategies to improve process efficiency and reduce or eliminate waste.
For more information on the Pollution Prevention Intern Program and a list of 2017 projects, visit: www.iowap2services.com. Case summaries of the 2017 projects will be posted to this site in the fall.