Page 26 - Green Builder July-August 2018 Issue

Hunter

Industries,

Inc.

When it comes to sustainability, It’s a grind. Hunter

unter is de nitely in control. Industries’ plastic regrind
process enables injection
Hunter Industries is a global manufacturer and provider of COURTESY OF HUNTER INDUSTRIES molding waste to be
combined with virgin material
products and services for the residential and commercial to make new products,
landscape irrigation, agricultural irrigation, and outdoor lighting keeping it out of landfills.
industries, as well as a provider of custom manufacturing and
dispensing technology services. Founded in 1981, the privately They’re an Eco-Leader because...
held company oers thousands of products that provide
resource-ecient solutions for the industries that they serve. ■ Since 2012, Hunter Industries has published its Corporate Social
Headquartered in San Marcos, Calif., Hunter Industries Responsibility (CSR) Report to share the company’s journey toward
(www.hunterindustries.com) holds more than 220 product sustainability with its stakeholders. The report provides a “transparent and
patents and 80 trademarks. honest summation of our goals and stories around finding a balance between
People, Planet and Profit, including our successes and challenges.”
NE OF HUNTER Industries’ core values is social ■ The company continues research and development efforts centered on
responsibility, a philosophy that carries over to innovative solutions that maximize water and energy savings, such as its
its manufacturing process. According to Hunter Low-Energy Precision Application (LEPA) bubblers, or its Wi-Fi enabled
Industries Corporate Social Responsibility Manager Hydrawise sprinkler controllers.
O Bryce Carnehl, the company has been tackling waste- ■ Hunter’s wide range of technological expertise allows it to have significant
reduction challenges for years with a “double-pronged mitigation impact on companies in numerous industries, including golf course irrigation,
and minimization approach” as it moves toward a goal of becoming custom manufacturing, landscape and architectural lighting, agricultural,
a zero net waste facility. horticultural, industrial, and wastewater irrigation, and sustainable washroom
The company is largely a plas- “We are dedicated to dispensing systems.
tic injection molding manufac- nding a alance etween
turer. Waste is generated during automatically feeding it to an adjacent machine to mold parts from
the manufacturing process in the the eople we impact, the the waste material. The company also continues to invest in “hot
form of “cold runners,” or extra lanet we a ect, and the runner” molds that do not generate cold runner waste.
pieces of plastic resulting from ro ts we earn. The philosophy also goes out to other manufacturers. In 2018,
channels in a mold. “In the past Hunter Industries introduced the Ann Hunter-Welborn Circle
two years, we have invested in our Bryce Carnehl, corporate of Excellence Award to commend recipients by highlighting
regrind process, during which we social responsibility their sustainable actions. “Our overall goal of creating a resilient
collect cold runner material, clean manager, unter ndustries and sustainable industry can only be accomplished by creating
and grind it on site, mix it with partnerships where we can share ideas, challenge actions and
virgin material, and then use it to build new products,” Carnehl says. encourage others to follow,” Carnehl says. “We hope this annual
Hunter has also implemented a manufacturing process called “zero award inspires others in our industry to also make decisions today
cell,” that involves collecting waste from one molding machine and that positively aŽect tomorrow.”

24 GREEN BUILDER July/August 2018 www.greenbuildermedia.com

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