Manufacturing

The 2017 Washington Manufacturing Awards: Sustainability

Gold: Feed Commodities, Tacoma; Silver: Composite Recycling Technology Center, Port Angeles

By Bill Virgin May 1, 2017

FeedComm_MG_1630

This article originally appeared in the May 2017 issue of Seattle magazine.

GOLD AWARD
Feed Commodities, Tacoma

Bakeries often have leftover ingredients and finished goods that are past their sell-by date. Feed Commodities turns these cereal and grain-based bakery byproducts into animal feed in a certified safe-feed facility. From a small operation launched in 1996, the company has grown to more than $12 million in annual sales and has expanded operations to Oregon and Canada. In 2015, it spent $4 million on buildings and equipment to accommodate expansion, and followed that up with an additional $1 million investment in 2016. Feed Commodities emphasizes that its not merely a recycling collection business. It also works with bakery clients on tracking and reducing waste streams.

SILVER AWARD
Composite Recycling Technology Center, Port Angeles

CRTC launched with several missions: divert thousands of pounds of composite-fiber waste and scrap material from landfills; find useful products to make with it; and train workers in the fledgling industry. In 2016, the center took a huge stride toward achieving one of the goals. It developed a paddle for pickleball a tennis/badminton hybrid and lined up a customer for it. The center believes it can release three additional products in 2017 and build employment and training participants to 25.

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