Green Initiative

The flexible packaging industry has long been aware of environmental factors - one of its major selling points being that flexible packaging is more eco-friendly than metal cans and glass containers for many applications. Unfortunately, while most flexible packaging companies are aware of environmental concerns and frequently use various catchphrases to emphasize this awareness, very few of these companies actually have a commitment to improving environmental conditions.

 

Solar Panel Installation

Understanding its responsibility to the environment, IMPAK Corporation recently completed a large solar panel project to generate clean, sustainable energy at their Los Angeles facility at 13700 S. Broadway.

In a board meeting last year, IMPAK Corporation renewed its commitment to the environment by launching a 228 panel 51.3kw solar panel project. When asked about the motivation behind the project the General Manager of IMPAK Corporation stated "a business our size has an indelible responsibility to the community it resides in and the environment. Going solar not only reduces our dependency on carbon fuels, but also offsets much of our overhead and enables us to offer our products at more competitive rates."

 

Solar Energy Inverters

IMPAK’s corporate office is powered by this bank of awesome solar power inverters, capable of supplying a constant stream of electricity to both the administrative areas and our huge warehouse.

Power inverters are critically important to any solar powered operation. Inverters themselves don’t produce any power.  Electricity coming from our rooftop solar panels is direct current (DC).

The circuitry inside our inverters changes the incoming DC power to the alternating current (AC) we need to power our offices.

 

 

Drought-tolerant Landscaping

In March 2014 we did a complete redesign of our front landscaping adopting a drought-tolerant theme. In an effort to avoid using harmful chemicals that cause environmental pollution, we have used NO chemicals to remove existing vegetations, and the weeds were plucked only by hands. The plants that are installed in the new garden are carefully selected, and are all drought-tolerant plants requiring minimum usage of water. About 50% of water for irrigation is wasted due to evaporation, wind, or run-off due to inefficient irrigation system. 99% of our irrigation is efficient drip irrigation. In the garden, you see two dry river beds on both sides of the entrance. These artificial formations of stones and rivers simulating a dry river bed will not only collect water during the rainy season, but they also help to prevent water run-off to the street.

 

As part of the new landscaping project, we installed a new bike rack that holds up to 4 bikes. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reports that on average, an average car emits 20lbs of CO2 per gallon. Since we installed this new bike rack, two of our employees who both live more than 20 miles away from our office started riding bicycles on a regular basis. This helps reduce the CO2 emission in the air by almost 50lbs per DAY.

 

Reducing Energy Demands

There are 16 lights at the entrance of our building. When we first moved in to this building a few years ago, these light bulbs stayed on all night on a timer which the previous owner had set. We immediately noticed the wasteful light energy consumption in this area. The first step we took was to replace the light bulbs with CFL's, then we reduced the number of lights from 16 to 6 while maintaining the aesthetic of the area by selecting those light bulbs in an orderly manner.

 

 

Reducing Office Waste

We encourage all our employees to reduce waste and recycle. Currently we have 4 recycle bins throughout our building. Each of these recycling bins gets full after 30 days, and the contents of the bottles are taken to the recycle center within 5 miles from our office, and are properly recycled.

Additional Measures

Currently IMPAK Corporation is working on reduced paper waste at the office. As a goal by the end of 2014, we are working on reducing our paper waste by 20%.