Koch, Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate corporation based in Wichita, Kansas, and is the second-largest privately held company in the United States, after Cargill. Its subsidiaries are involved in the manufacturing, refining, and distribution of petroleum, chemicals, energy, fiber, intermediates and polymers, minerals, fertilizer, pulp and paper, chemical technology equipment, cloud computing, finance, raw materials trading, and investments. Koch owns Flint Hills Resources, Georgia-Pacific, Guardian Industries, Infor, Invista, KBX, Koch Ag & Energy Solutions, Koch Engineered Solutions, Koch Investments Group, Koch Minerals & Trading, and Molex. The firm employs 122,000 people in 60 countries, with about half of its business in the United States.
Chemical waste is any excess, unused, or unwanted chemical. Chemical waste may be classified as hazardous waste, non-hazardous waste, universal waste, or household hazardous waste, each of which is regulated separately by national governments and the United Nations. Hazardous waste is material that displays one or more of the following four characteristics: ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, and toxicity. This information, along with chemical disposal requirements, is typically available on a chemical's Safety Data Sheet (SDS). Radioactive and biohazardous wastes require additional or different methods of handling and disposal, and are often regulated differently than standard hazardous wastes.
Georgia-Pacific LLC is an American pulp and paper company based in Atlanta, Georgia, and is one of the world's largest manufacturers and distributors of tissue, pulp, paper, toilet and paper towel dispensers, packaging, building products and related chemicals, and other forest products—largely made from its own timber. Since 2005, it has been an independently operated and managed subsidiary of Koch Industries. As of fall 2019, the company employed more than 35,000 people at more than 180 locations in North America, South America and Europe.
Eastman Chemical Company is an American company primarily involved in the chemical industry. Once a subsidiary of Kodak, today it is an independent global specialty materials company that produces a broad range of advanced materials, chemicals and fibers for everyday purposes. Founded in 1920 and based in Kingsport, Tennessee, the company operates 36 manufacturing sites worldwide and employs approximately 14,000 people.
Green chemistry, similar to sustainable chemistry or circular chemistry, is an area of chemistry and chemical engineering focused on the design of products and processes that minimize or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. While environmental chemistry focuses on the effects of polluting chemicals on nature, green chemistry focuses on the environmental impact of chemistry, including lowering consumption of nonrenewable resources and technological approaches for preventing pollution.
Ray C. Anderson was founder and chairman of Interface Inc., one of the world's largest manufacturers of modular carpet for commercial and residential applications and a leading producer of commercial broadloom and commercial fabrics. He was known in environmental circles for his advanced and progressive stance on industrial ecology and sustainability.
Electro-Voice (EV) is an American manufacturer of audio equipment, including microphones, amplifiers, and loudspeakers, focused on pro audio applications such as sound reinforcement and commercial and residential audiovisual installations. As a subdivision of Bosch Communications Systems Inc. since 2006, Electro-Voice markets products for use by consumers as well as small or large concert venues, broadcasting, houses of worship, and in retail situations.
James F. Jacoby is an American businessman based out of Atlanta, Georgia. Jacoby is the founder, chairman and CEO of The Jacoby Group, Inc., a synergistic group of operating companies headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The nationally recognized Jacoby Development, Inc., a land development company that specializes in environmentally sensitive multi-use properties and reclamation of impaired sites brownfields is a member of the group.
Rita Marie Lavelle is a United States and California State Republican political figure. In 1984, Lavelle was convicted on federal charges of perjury related to an investigation into misuse of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's "Superfund" money during her tenure with the agency, and irregularities at the Stringfellow Acid Pits, a major hazardous waste site. The Lavelle incident was labeled "Sewergate" or "Garbagegate" by the newspapers at the time.
The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) is a publicly available database containing information on toxic chemical releases and other waste management activities in the United States.
Geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs) are factory manufactured hydraulic barriers consisting of a layer of bentonite or other very low-permeability material supported by geotextiles and/or geomembranes, mechanically held together by needling, stitching, or chemical adhesives. Due to environmental laws, any seepage from landfills must be collected and properly disposed of, otherwise contamination of the surrounding ground water could cause major environmental and/or ecological problems. The lower the hydraulic conductivity the more effective the GCL will be at retaining seepage inside of the landfill. Bentonite composed predominantly (>70%) of montmorillonite or other expansive clays, are preferred and most commonly used in GCLs. A general GCL construction would consist of two layers of geosynthetics stitched together enclosing a layer of natural or processed sodium bentonite. Typically, woven and/or non-woven textile geosynthetics are used, however polyethylene or geomembrane layers or geogrid geotextiles materials have also been incorporated into the design or in place of a textile layer to increase strength. GCLs are produced by several large companies in North America, Europe, and Asia. The United States Environmental Protection Agency currently regulates landfill construction and design in the US through several legislations.
Inform, Inc. is a non-profit environmental organization based in New York City. Founded in 1973, Inform has published more than 100 reports covering chemical hazard prevention, solid waste prevention, extended producer responsibility, and sustainable transportation. Inform uses media, such as video, to educate the public about the environmental effects of various consumer products.
Pull-A-Part, LLC is a United States chain of automotive recycling yards where customers bring their own tools and remove parts out of used vehicles. As of July 2017 there are 25 locations in 12 states.
Clean Harbors, Inc. is an American provider of environmental and industrial services, including hazardous waste disposal for companies, small waste generators and federal, state, provincial and local governments.
Mildred Seydell was an American pioneering journalist in Georgia. Seydel wrote as a syndicated columnist and founded the Seydell Journal, a quarterly journal that was the successor to The Think Tank a short-lived biweekly journal of poetry, articles and reviews (1940–1947). She also founded the Mildred Seydell Publishing Company, and was a regular on the lecture circuit.
Busch Systems International is a recycling, waste and compost retailer and designer headquartered in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. The business saw early success due to the popularity of the Blue Box recycling system across Canada and the United States. Since then they have expanded to produce a wide range of recycling and waste containers in a variety of materials, from metal to plastic the latter products which mostly include high percentages of recycled content.
Kids 2, Inc., doing business online as Kids2, is an American infant and toddler toy and product manufacturer based in Atlanta, Georgia. The company designs, manufactures and markets Bright Starts, Baby Einstein, and Ingenuity brand products. Kids 2 has international affiliate operation locations in Australia, Canada, Europe, China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Mexico. In 2013, Kids II had more than 400 products under its brands.
The Virco Manufacturing Corporation, more commonly known as Virco, is an American furniture manufacturer based in Torrance, California which focuses on providing products for educational markets. The principal products of the company include student desks and activity tables, school and office seating, computer stations, lightweight folding tables, and upholstered chairs.
This timeline of events related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) includes events related to the discovery, development, manufacture, marketing, uses, concerns, litigation, regulation, and legislation, involving the human-made PFASs. The timeline focuses on some perfluorinated compounds, particularly perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and on the companies that manufactured and marketed them, mainly DuPont and 3M. An example of PFAS is the fluorinated polymer polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), which has been produced and marketed by DuPont under its trademark Teflon. GenX chemicals and perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS) are organofluorine chemicals used as a replacement for PFOA and PFOS.
Zep, Inc. is an Atlanta, Georgia-based cleaning products manufacturer. It specializes in cleaning and maintenance products for industrial, institutional, food and beverage, vehicle care, and retail customers. Zep’s product portfolio includes over 80 brands. As of 2019, Zep employs over 2,000 people.
