For the third consecutive year, Oshkosh Corporation was named a 2018 World's Most Ethical Company by the Ethisphere Institute demonstrating their commitment to leading ethical business standards and practices. For Oshkosh Defense, LLC, an Oshkosh Corporation company, protecting the environment has become a core value. Through a corporate environmental protection policy, Oshkosh Defense established goals to reduce waste and emissions, minimize adverse environmental impacts, and promote resource conservation in all manufacturing facilities. To meet these goals, Oshkosh Defense started tracking waste metrics throughout the facilities which in turn led to the pursuit of TRUE certification.
Oshkosh Defense leadership adopted a zero-waste policy with the goal of reaching 90 percent of waste diverted from the landfill. As part of their People First culture, Oshkosh Defense promotes sustainability and employee participation in environmental initiatives. Employees have been involved in waste stream analysis, annual e-waste recycling, and Earth Day activities. The Oshkosh Defense team established best management practices that promote zero waste in the facilities, including:
- Placing standardized colors and signs on single-stream recycling and landfill bins
- Recycling mud flaps, windshields, and broken wood pallets
- Implementing a Bags to Benches program that converts plastic shrink wrap and polyethylene plastic foam into benches for common areas
- Reducing plastic shrink wrap and foam from manufacturing processes
Oshkosh Defense utilizes a Kanban relay system to supply "just-in-time" parts to the manufacturing line, eliminating waste from manufacturing parts. The Kanban system also utilizes reusable CHEP containers to reduce waste when shipping parts between facilities which are used for over 6,500 parts.
Since 2017, Oshkosh Defense has collected plastic waste such as bags and foam to be recycled with the Bags to Benches program, sponsored by TREX. When the equivalent of 8,000 grocery bags has been collected, they are made into a bench that employees can use on breaks. Oshkosh Defense has sent 81,100 pounds of plastic waste to be recycled as part of the Bags to Benches program.