Several companies were honored for their efforts to make their businesses environmentally friendly on November 3 at the 2021 City of Fort Worth Environmental Excellence Awards. The highest honor was awarded to Alcon Vision, an eye care and pharmaceutical company named Industry of the Year. Â
Alcon’s strides in waste minimization and reduction embody the principles that Fort Worth values when awarding Environmental Excellence distinctions. One such principle is that part of pollution prevention begins with improving products and processes to prevent waste generation, as opposed to dealing with waste after it has already been created.
Alcon Vision also received a top Innovation Award for improvements in water use and processing. Due to updates made to its manufacturing process, the company is saving 137,405 gallons of water annually.
Its five consecutive years of regulatory compliance with the Clean Water Act also earned it a Partnership Award, and the company was additionally granted one of three Pollution Prevention Awards.
The other two Pollution Prevention Awards were presented to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing Western Currency Facility and the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth.
The Innovation Award in solid waste reduction and recycling was given to Arca Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages for diverting 98.8% of the waste it produced away from landfills between 2020 and 2021.
Honorable mentions for the Innovation Award in this category were given to Roots Coffeehouse for recycling paper products and composting coffee grounds as well as to G.E. Foodland Inc. in tandem with the North Texas Healthy Community Blue Zones Project for supplying compost to urban farms in Fort Worth.
An Innovation Award for water conservation was presented to Tarrant County College District for electing to dismantle the Garden Fountains at its Trinity River campus and replace them with drip irrigation and native plants, a decision that, though difficult, saves 1.8 million gallons of water each year.
Tarrant County College District was also honored with the Fort Worth Friendly Landscape Recognition Award for its Trinity River campus irrigation project, which saved 777,000 gallons of water per year through the use of organic fertilizer and selective watering.
Seventy-five Fort Worth companies in total were honored for their compliance with wastewater regulations. Another 25 companies in cities that contract with Fort Worth for industrial pretreatment services were also recognized.
