Minimizing Our Footprint Through Smart Waste Management
Our commitment to proper stewardship of the materials we use means we’re continually taking on new sustainable practices that minimize our environmental footprint. Today, we repurpose everything from our wooden distribution poles to coal ash.
Stewardship Reporting Center
Download our stewardship-related reports and learn more about our positions and commitments.
Making Strides in Beneficial Reuse
We’ve turned our largest process waste stream – coal ash — into an in-demand material in construction projects. In the last two years, more than 95 percent of the ash from our Muskogee and Sooner facilities was recovered and sold to the concrete and cement industries. Recently our byproduct was repurposed for the construction of the I-40 Crosstown Expressway, a major artery through Oklahoma City.
Long Description for Coal Ash Reuse Chart
Overview
The bar graph chart shows both amount of coal ash produced and reused for each year from 2016 – 2020.
Values
Numerical values presented on the chart image:
| Year | Coal Ash Produced, Tons | Coal Ash Reused, Tons |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 491,415 | 464,360 |
| 2017 | 307,286 | 272,898 |
| 2018 | 225,114 | 195,190 |
| 2019 | 160,315 | 125,812 |
| 2020 | 140,914 | 89,291 |
Presentation
The bar graph chart represents the amount in tons of coal ask reused for each year from 2016-2020. Each year is represented with two vertically ascending bars indicating the amount of coal ash produced and the amount reused per year.
Repurposing Materials
Scrap Metal
We’ve recycled nearly 44,000 tons of scrap metal since 2007, including leftover metal from transformers, facility maintenance projects and other heavy equipment.
Building Materials
To date, we’ve avoided sending approximately 3,300 tons of wooden transmission and distribution poles, pallets and distribution wire spools to landfills, repurposing them as construction materials.
Vegetation Reuse
Our vegetation waste, a ready supply of plant cuttings, is reused by elephants at the Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Gardens as an important part of their care and wellbeing.
Innovation in Vegetation Management
We partner with the Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Gardens to supply animal dietary components collected through regular tree-trimming activities. Browse and sileage materials are used to provide additional food and enrichment for various species. Our vegetation management team has made more than 250 deliveries of browse to the zoo, donating more than 3.5 million pounds of resources.
How We Do It: Recycling in Action
We find creative ways to reduce our environmental impact. We seek out new sustainable practices including reusing our wood poles and other equipment, diverting ash from landfills, and jumpstarting office paper and plastic recycling programs. Reusing fly ash from our River Valley, Muskogee, and Sooner facilities reduces the need to manufacture cement resulting in reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from cement and concrete production. Based on estimates from the American Coal Ash Association, our fly ash reuse helped avoid over three and a half million tons of CO2 emissions in the last 16 years.
Carbon Reductions
In the last five years, we’ve diverted roughly 1.3 million tons of ash from landfills through our commitment to beneficial reuse. Based on estimates from the American Coal Ash Association, OG&E fly ash reuse helped avoid over 3 million tons of CO2 emissions in the last 13 years.
Wooden Poles, Pallets and Cables
Approximately 476 tons of our wooden waste transmission and distribution wire spools are repurposed into landscape timbers, side rails for hiking trail paths, retaining walls, mulch and other products.
Paper, Aluminum and Plastics
In our corporate office, we recycle all paper and plastic, and encourage our employees to minimize use. To date, shred bins in our offices have generated more than 75 tons of recyclable material.
