Operation Clean Sweep a part of Primo’s environmental policies

The Operation Clean Sweep programme is an international initiative to help every plastic resin handling operation implement good housekeeping and pellet containment practices. The ultimate aim is to achieve zero pellet loss in the environment by implementing simple, daily routines in production facilities and transportation. Initiated in the USA in the nineties, the programme now covers 23 countries across the world and involves hundreds of plastic conversion companies – Primo included.

Basically, stopping plastic dusts, powders and pellets from reaching the environment is a question of ensuring that all leaks are identified and dealt with. This can be a matter of improving filling, storage and handling of pellets in the factory or of simply sweeping up all spillage of pellets, dust and powder. All the plastic material we collect is reground or recycled in our own production.

​Auditing and new equipment

Any plastic converter becoming a partner in OCS must commit not just to taking measures to avoid pellet waste in the production – the company must also submit to an ambitious auditing programme in order to control and document its results. One of the initiatives is to train personnel and to promote a sense of responsibility down to the personal level for everyone in the company.

OCS can also mean investing in new equipment, in training and in auditing procedures. This includes instructions for our suppliers, all of whom have to live up to certain standards during transport and delivery of raw materials. 

An ongoing process

As a plastics producer, we have committed ourselves contractually to the OCS programme as part of our overall sustainability efforts. Primo’s Group Director of Technology and Supply Chain Allan Larsen is in charge of the entire OCS programme implementation. He says:

“Operation Clean Sweep is an ongoing process now being implemented at all Primo facilities. It is a never-ending effort to improve and so cannot be said ever to be finished, although we have come a long way already. It means that our customers can be certain that our production is carried out in a sustainable way, and it is our firm belief that the end customers will approve. It’s also a direct, measurable benefit to the environment, as well.” 

Read more at Operation Clean Sweep - www.opcleansweep.eu/