Green Facilities
When UPS announced in 1990 that it would relocate from Greenwich, Connecticut, to Atlanta, Georgia, it searched for a site with beautiful natural surroundings that would play a prominent role in the design of its new corporate office building. Rather than building a tall skyscraper, UPS instead envisioned a building that nestled in with nature and provided an enjoyable work environment for its employees.
The result: a 623,000 square foot, campus-like facility surrounded by hundreds of trees - some just 15 feet from the building. Located on site is a half-mile jogging/walking trail that winds its way through a natural forest area. The National Wildlife Federation presented UPS with an award in 1995 for creating a sanctuary for wildlife at its corporate office. UPS was the first corporation in Georgia to receive this award.
In developing its vision for the campus, UPS decided to follow four criteria: ecological harmony, design and building management, visual harmony and innovative achievement.
UPS Operational Facilities
UPS's operational facilities across the globe are responsible for sorting millions of packages each day. Our plant engineers consistently review new technology and methods to improve our efficiency and lessen our environmental imprint.
UPS Worldport™, UPS’s all-points international air hub in Louisville, includes various features designed to reduce the operation’s environmental impact. For example, Worldport’s aircraft docks allow planes to park directly next to the facility, eliminating the need to run ground tugs, dollies and other equipment required to load and unload aircraft parked on ramps.
In 1991, UPS built a crushing plant at its Chicago Area Consolidation Hub (CACH) in Hodgkins, Illinois, to process the concrete remains from a building's demolition. UPS recycled the concrete for use in new construction, eliminating landfill disposal. Additionally, UPS recycled concrete rubble from a nearby interstate-widening project. When the concrete recycling project at CACH was complete in early 1993, UPS reprocessed nearly 240,000 tons of concrete.
In 1994, UPS began using reusable sort bags instead of plastic bags in our small-package sorting operation for shipments within UPS districts. Since we began using these "forever bags," we've reduced waste by 21,500 tons.
In 1994, UPS began using a "plural component spraying system", an innovative spray paint technology that reduced paint usage by 40 to 50 percent and decreases paint and solvent cleanup waste by 95 percent. This cost-effective system operates in all of our paint and body-shop facilities.
In 1992, UPS applied a new technology that significantly extended the life of solvents used to clean vehicle parts. The technology nearly doubles the number of times we can use the solvent, allowing us to reduce hazardous waste disposal by 78 percent.
In 1988, UPS removed replaced or upgraded all of its more than 2,800 underground storage tanks, preceding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's deadline by two years. UPS's underground storage tanks include extensive piping and tank lead-detection systems, redundant spill and overfill protection devices and built-in electrical interlocks and timers.
