Rheem’s Progress with Sustainability Goals

Rheem is a company that produces water heaters, boilers, ventilation systems, heating equipment, and air conditioning systems. The company was founded in 1925 in the United States and now sells its products across the world. In 2019 Rheem announced that the company was seeking to change how it operated in regards to waste.

Rheem’s 2019 Sustainability Goals

In 2019, Rheem announced that it had formalized sustainability goals. These goals included:

• Reduce the company’s greenhouse gas emissions by half
• Train 250,000 professionals in sustainable practices and products
• Sending zero waste to landfills (ZWTL)

The company wanted to achieve all of this by 2025 as a part of its A Greater Degree of Good vision for future sustainability. It was through this initiative that the company hoped to do better by the planet as well as its employees, partners, and customers. The company’s efforts to reduce landfill waste to zero is also a part of its goal to improve its operations and work smarter and more efficiently. The company also feels that products made in a sustainable way will be of higher quality, benefiting both the planet and customers.

How Is Rheem Reducing Waste?

Rheem has reduced its waste by following a policy of reducing, reusing, and recycling wherever possible in the company. Educational initiatives have taught employees about the importance of sustainability and the company has placed labeled recycling bins throughout their facilities to make recycling as easy as possible. The plan is to make creating waste a last resort. The company looks for ways to reuse materials wherever possible or to reduce consumption in the first place.

Other waste reduction strategies are more creative. For example, the company now collects all steel components, including the dust. Dried enamel waste is now converted into a spray-on mist that is reused as an enamel coating for the exterior of products. Even sludge waste is repurposed as compost or as an additive for soil.

What Are the Results of Rheem’s Sustainability Efforts?

Rheem initiated its sustainability efforts at its Fort Worth location and uses it as a model for its other locations. In Fort Worth, the company has already achieved 90% of its waste diversion goals with other locations following close behind, all with four years left to go until the 2025 goal. Some locations have already reached the zero waste to landfill goal. At the end of this year (2021), every single one of Rheem’s locations will have implemented its own ZWTL initiatives following the models of the successful locations.

How Does Rheem Measure Sustainability Success?

The company conducts regular waste audits. These audits can tell Rheem not only how much waste has been successfully diverted from going into a landfill but also where waste is still being produced and where the company still has areas in which to improve.

What Are the Benefits of Sustainability Measures?

While sustainability has obvious benefits for the environment, there are other benefits, too. Rheem has discovered that the company is more desirable for top job candidates because their sustainability policies are attractive and forward-thinking in the eyes of job seekers. Existing employees are invested in bettering the company’s products as well as the environment and take satisfaction in their efforts. Since 2019, sustainability has become a core part of Rheem’s company culture.