RIT Receives Prestigious National Award in Pollution Prevention

Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Center for Remanufacturing and Resource Recovery has been honored with the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable’s 2006 Most Valuable Pollution Prevention award. The honor was presented to RIT during a ceremony in Washington, D.C., as part of the roundtable’s National Pollution Prevention Week festivities.

The Most Valuable Pollution Prevention award, known as the MVP2, recognizes national efforts to enhance research and education in the field of pollution prevention. This year’s recipients have reduced waste production by a combined 8 million pounds, conserved more than 500 million kilowatt hours of electricity, reduced water usage by over 200 million gallons and cut related costs by over $6 million.

The National Center for Remanufacturing and Resource Recovery was honored for a number of technology transfer projects in pollution prevention, including the development of the Wiper Blade Edge Analyzer, a patented device designed to determine the reusability of printer wiper blades, a key component used in print and toner cartridges.

Since its initial commercialization in 2004, the analyzer has recovered over a million blades that would have otherwise gone to landfills. The center previously won a 2002 New York State Governor’s Award and the 2004 New York State Environmental Excellence Award for their pollution prevention research.

“RIT’s technology is reducing waste associated with the operation and maintenance of copiers and printers that will have significant environmental benefits for years to come,” says Jeffrey Burke, executive director of the roundtable.

“We are extremely grateful to receive this recognition from such a well respected national organization,” adds Nabil Nasr, director of the RIT research center. “We have consistently strived to enhance environmental quality while also assisting industry in becoming more efficient, productive and competitive.”

The National Pollution Prevention Roundtable is the largest membership organization in the United States devoted solely to pollution prevention. The mission of the roundtable is to provide a national forum for promoting the development, implementation, and evaluation of efforts to avoid, eliminate or reduce pollution at the source. For more information on the organization and the MVP² awards, visit its Web site at www.p2.org.

The National Center for Remanufacturing and Resource Recovery at RIT was the first research center in the nation specifically devoted to the study of remanufacturing, the process of restoring components to like new condition. They are internationally recognized for their expertise in the areas of structural and material analysis, clean technology development, signature analysis, asset heath management and design for remanufacture.