Cree LED lighting products are designed to last. By switching to long-lasting Cree LED lighting from incandescent or CFL, fewer lights need to be purchased, replaced and tossed away, thus less material will go into the waste stream, and eventually landfills.
Since Cree’s innovation team is dedicated to continuously advance our technology, Cree LED lighting is efficient. That means less material is needed to produce the same product and this reduces total system cost and the amount of material that needs to be recycled or landfilled.
CFLs contain mercury, which can become hazardous to the environment if not disposed of properly. Switching to mercury-free LEDs and reducing the number of light bulbs that need to be purchased over the years, not only means reducing waste, but conserves resources and reduces emissions of mercury, a hazardous pollutant.
The responsibility for waste generation spans from cradle to grave, and Cree is dedicated to minimizing waste and disposing of waste safely and responsibly:
- From 2014 to 2015, Cree reduced its chemical waste generation from manufacturing by 277,000 pounds.
- Cree has actively worked to reduce the consumption of chemicals in its manufacturing processes and has been successful in reducing the use of one of its major raw materials by 70% in 2016.
In addition to reducing waste generation, Cree is dedicated to reusing or recycling materials whenever technically possible and economically reasonable. Cree values industrial ecology practices, and seeks opportunities for waste to be recycled or become a feedstock for use in other manufacturing processes. This not only lowers costs, but helps us and other manufactures to decrease virgin raw material consumption and reduce environmental impacts. We have implemented the following practices as part of our commitment to reuse and recycle materials:
- Cree began recycling one solvent stream with a reclaimer in 2011, which saves an average of 44,000 gallons of solvent per year.
- In 2015, Cree began recycling other organic chemicals that are recovered into a commercial grade chemical to be used by other manufactures, leading to an average savings of 27,000 gallons of this organic chemical waste per year.
- Cree recycles other materials in manufacturing and office sites, including metal, plastic, paper, cardboard, wood, cans and bottles.
- In August 2016, Cree’s headquarters began composting waste at the cafeteria. The composting program is expected to divert approximately 45,000 pounds of waste from the landfill per year.
- In 2016, Cree made its first waste to landfill reduction goals. Cree’s headquarters has a goal to reduce decrease its waste to landfill rate to 25% over the next couple of years. Cree's Racine office succeeded in meeting its goal to divert at least 80% of waste from landfill by June 2016 and is on track to meet its new goal to reach 85% landfill diversion by December 2017.