Sustainable Success

With numerous companies choosing the Mountain State as a place to settle down and do business, efforts to reduce negative impacts on the planet are happening like never before. More responsible and sustainable manufacturing is happening in towns all over the state, resulting in eco-friendly products that reach markets worldwide.

Nucor Steel West Virginia, Kingsford Manufacturing, CertainTeed Gypsum and RecycleBalls are all significant contributors to West Virginia’s business sector. These companies not only conduct responsible manufacturing processes but also help improve the economy and quality of life for the state’s citizens.

Nucor Steel West Virginia

North America’s largest steel and steel products company chose to expand to Apple Grove in Mason County in 2022.

“Nucor locates most of our mills in rural areas because we know it’s where we will find good, solid, hardworking people, and those traits are what attracted us to this state,” says Scott Shortridge, shop manager for Nucor. “When our team first arrived and met some of the good folks in Mason County and across West Virginia, we instantly felt like this was a Nucor community.”

Shortridge explains that when Nucor expands to a new area, the company makes an effort to connect with its community, participating in things like school and community events and local food pantries.

“We feel it is our duty to support workforce development programs, college and university partnerships, first responders, veterans’ services and opioid recovery programs—such as the Jobs & Hope West Virginia program—that provide meaningful pathways to jobs,” he says.

Once fully operational, Nucor’s new location will provide 800 full-time jobs with a median salary of $124,000.

As steel is essential for any economy to grow, Nucor takes the appropriate steps to ensure it is manufacturing and supplying the cleanest, most efficient steel possible. Nucor uses an electric arc furnace to create new steel by melting
and refurbishing recycled scrap, which makes the steel 100% recyclable at the end of its life. Nucor pioneered this process, which is now used to make more than 70% of the country’s steel.

On top of Nucor’s sustainable steel production, the company is partnering with other enterprises to help improve their carbon footprints as well.

In March, Nucor signed an agreement to supply Mercedes-Benz with Econiq RE steel, a product that has helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions to less than half the amount of furnace-based steel. The company has also partnered with Google and Microsoft to help them reach their clean electricity goals.

Kingford Manufacturing

Along with the state’s large-scale sustainability, many West Virginians are making smart choices in their own backyards by grilling with Kingsford charcoal.

The Kingsford brand has supplied consumers with high-quality products since the 1920s, including its famous charcoal that has been manufactured in Parsons, WV, since 1958. Today, Kingsford is the top U.S. charcoal brand and an industry leader in environmental manufacturing controls, supplying high-quality briquettes for countless barbeques and cookouts.

“Adhering to environmental regulations and standards, conducting regular audits and having a dedicated green team shows a strong commitment to continuous improvement in sustainability practices,” Robert Boggs, plant manager for Kingsford, says. “The facility aims to have a positive impact on the community and the planet.”

The Mountain State’s dependable workforce was attractive to Kingsford, along with the abundance of natural material in the Appalachian Mountains. The company has been able to utilize its time in the state by providing more than 100 jobs for a wide range of skillsets from engineers to production workers.

Recently, the plant achieved a zero-waste-to-landfill status, joining the other Kingsford manufacturing plants’ major milestone of more than 30 Clorox (Kingsford’s parent company) facilities around the world that have achieved this status.

To minimize its environmental impact, the brand converts more than 1 million tons of wood left over from local mills into high-quality briquettes every year. The company also purchases waste wood from local businesses and collaborates with the American Chestnut Foundation to help plant and restore the American chestnut tree.

“Kingsford’s dedication to environmental stewardship and its positive impact on West Virginia’s communities help make it an industry leader in environmental manufacturing controls,” Boggs says.

RecycleBalls

In the state’s sports sector, sustainability is implemented by RecycleBalls, which collects used tennis balls to turn into new products. To date, the company has collected almost 14 million tennis balls for reuse and recycling.

Originally based in Vermont, the company looked at 10 different states for relocation before settling on West Virginia.

“West Virginia stood out not only for its central location and supportive institutions but also for its natural beauty and strong workforce,” says Erin Cunningham, CEO of RecycleBalls.

Rather than the traditional linear recycling process, RecycleBalls uses a circular model, which helps give multiple lives to a single tennis ball.

“It’s possible for us to see the same tennis ball three or four times before we break it down for recycling,” Cunningham says. “The average tennis ball is played with for about 10 hours, and RecycleBalls can extend that useful life to 10 years or more.”

The company works with different sports clubs, organizations, sponsors and philanthropies to help spread its recycling efforts and promote sustainability in sports. It currently has more than 6,000 individuals and 2,000 tennis facilities working toward this cause.

CertainTeed Gypsum

Manufacturing company CertainTeed Gypsum recently moved to Moundsville, WV—a decision inspired by the recycling of the alkaline-based solution recovered from coal burning.

This began after the Environmental Protection Agency brought about a rule in the ‘70s that required the use of desulfurizing scrubbers during the coal combustion process to reduce sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions. The SO2 is removed by the scrubbers as they pass it through that alkaline solution and can then be re-used to make gypsum board, which CertainTeed manufactures.

“To be strategically located close to one of these coal-fired generation plants allows the gypsum plant to take advantage of the byproduct, avoiding landfill and saving on freight of the raw material due to proximity, removing the carbon footprint of trucking,” Greg Kibert, plant manager for CertainTeed, says.

CertainTeed operates under Saint Gobain, a company that has spearheaded in many ways, becoming the first company to electrify the production of plasterboard at its plant in Norway and commercializing plasterboard made of 50% recycled product in France.

As its corporate purpose is making the world a better home, CertainTeed first began hiring employees in Moundsville in 2007 and has worked to protect the environment and help the economy by selling a home-grown, 99% recycled product that helps conserve water, reduce landfill and decrease CO2 emissions.

“Managers and associates are all regularly educated and trained on the importance of being good stewards of the environment and the critical role sustainability plays in our world today,” Kibert says. “We continually look for innovative concepts for continuous improvements to the process that edge us closer to a net zero carbon footprint.”

CertainTeed is now working toward a circular economy where both post-industrial and post-consumer waste can be recycled, making things like drywall more sustainable.

“Because of the high-quality drywall we produce, our customers get excited when they see the West Virginia stamp on the drywall for their project,” Kibert says. “We like to think we do our part in enhancing the reputation of West Virginia through the excellent product we produce.”