Reducing waste and costs!
What Online Metals does to help keep waste to a minimum.
At Online Metals, we know that materials come from the Earth - so we should do our part to keep the Earth clean.
At Online Metals we're always looking at our processes - and how we can be better at reducing waste, reusing material, reducing emissions, and just generally being a good citizen. We like clean air and hate throwing away waste as much as you do - so we wanted to share with you what we are specifically doing about it.
We Reduce Waste!
Generating and then dealing with waste is costly. Plus...who wants to deal with unusable junk like plastic packaging! We are always looking to reuse material and use material that can be easily recycled again!
- We Avoid Wasteful Overpackaging: Our local suppliers ship us material in bare bundles with protective corner boards to avoid unnecessary unpackaging, repackaging, and paperwork processing. This lets us to provide more sustainable packaging for shipping to our customers.
- We Repurpose Essential Packaging: Sometimes our shipments to you require extra protective packaging to stay safe in transit. Our operations team is super clever when it comes to reusing shipping material and they've even established a formal system to repurpose reusable packaging we get from incoming shipments into your outbound freight packaging.
- We Limit the Waste of Wood Crates and Pallets: For most customer fulfillments, our packaging is limited to recyclable cardboard tubes and ready-pack crates and limit the use of wood products outside of the pallets that sheet and plate materials are shipped on.
We use the right amount of packaging
We've got this down to an art - and our backing philosophy is the 'last thing we do is the first thing you see'. And so we select the right packaging for your material. You won't see a small piece of material floating within a huge package - nor would we ever fill it up with cheap styrofoam or plastic aircells when more expensive cardboard and kraft paper will do the job better!
Our Employees Care!
Our ideas come from our team - and we reward our team members for coming up with continous improvement ideas. Here are a few great examples of our employees pushing us to be better:
Power Saving Programs:
Our operations team has transitioned to majority electric forklifts and collaborated with our marketing team on on-site/machinery signage to remind the operators of energy conservation practices.
Paper Reduction:
Our administration team initiated personal outreach to existing customers to move to email invoicing, resulting in a 70% reduction in printed invoices for direct mail.
Ingenuity with Our UpCycling:
Sometimes pallets and wooden crates are not suitable for repurposing, so one warehouse employee in Northwood has been upcycling these pallets to create a tiny home project in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Reduction of Our Waste Footprint:
Our operations team initiated an internal packaging audit which provided massive savings with consumables and reduced unnecessary waste going to landfills:
- 75% Decrease in Physical Waste (Cubic Ft. of Trash per Day)
- Increased Same-Day Fulfillment to Customers by 3% (MoM) as a Result of More Efficient Packaging
Doing the right thing!
Some people call it 'sustainability' while others call it 'being green' but we look at it as doing the right thing to reduce waste and save money for everyone!. If there's anything you see us doing that could be done better - we would love to hear your ideas. We are available at (888) 527-3331 or [email protected] if you would like to get in touch with us.
We use the right amount of packaging
We've got this down to an art - and our backing philosophy is the 'last thing we do is the first thing you see'. And so we select the right packaging for your material. You won't see a small piece of material floating within a huge package - nor would we ever fill it up with cheap styrofoam or plastic aircells when more expensive cardboard and kraft paper will do the job better!
Here we can see our competitors excessive use of plastics in their packaging. All of this plastic waste was for two small 12' round bars and one 4"x4" piece of sheet. Even with all this low quality packaging, the sheet we ordered was still damaged in transit.
Our packaging includes a sturdy protective box and eco-friendly kraft paper packaging, secured with kraft paper wet tape. We aim to deliver your order safely, reflecting our commitment to quality and sustainability.
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