Manny Awards: Waste Test

A passionate manager leads Collinwood’s Talan Products toward its goal of a sustainable stamping plant.

They call him “Captain Planet.” Jeff Millis is the superhero of sustainability at Talan Products, a metal stamping and parts manufacturer in Cleveland’s Collinwood neighborhood. He has saved energy costs, reduced waste sent to landfills and increased recycling in a single bound.

Millis has a passion for all things sustainable that he caught from Talan Products president Pete Accorti. Just a few years ago, recycling was something Millis says he did at home but not work.

Then in 2006, the company moved to a new building, an old forging plant that needed an energy overhaul. Two years later, Millis went through training at Entrepreneurs for Sustainability, where Accorti is currently president of the board. “Once I went through the training, I saw how much sense that it makes, how beneficial the cost savings,” says Millis, Talan’s sustainability director and inventory control manager. “There’s an initial investment, but everything we’ve done is going to save us money. More importantly, you’re doing something that’s good for the overall environment and the community of Cleveland.”

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