Mike Mills: At Reinke Manufacturing, Sustainability Is a Global Goal to understand changing needs and to help growers use irrigation sustainably. My goal is to help them increase productivity while being responsible with the resources that are available to them. I also monitor our sustainability efforts as a manufacturer, and I help our growers understand that doing business with Reinke supports their sustainability efforts through the entire pipeline from manufacturing through product deployment. Irrigation Leader: How does Reinke manufacture sustainably?
Reinke's Reincloud remote monitoring system helps producers organize their operations by property, zone, and equipment.
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einke’s irrigation systems can help growers save water while increasing yield. That, says Mike Mills, Reinke’s director of sustainability solutions, is a winning formula at a time when ending global hunger as well as conserving water are top worldwide sustainability goals. In this interview, Mr. Mills speaks with Irrigation Leader about Reinke’s approach to sustainability, from manufacturing and recycling to deploying technology to help growers achieve maximum water application efficiency. Irrigation Leader: Please tell us about your background and how you came to be in your current position at Reinke.
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Irrigation Leader: In addition to being good for the environment, do your sustainability efforts benefit the company? Mike Mills: There are some benefits to Reinke Manufacturing—some of our recycling processes do provide a small revenue stream—but the main motivation for us in being a green manufacturer is the responsibility we feel to the environment and to the community where we live. We want to make sure that our presence doesn’t detract from but enhances the environment in which we exist. irrigationleadermagazine.com
PHOTOS COURTESY OF REINKE MANUFACTURING.
Mike Mills: I spent the first half of my career designing, selling, installing, and maintaining irrigation systems for golf courses and commercial landscape. After the housing market crash in 2009, I moved over to the agriculture sector. I came to work for Reinke and spent 13 years as the southeast territory manager. I was recently promoted to the position of director of sustainability solutions. My job in my new role is to make sure that Reinke is positioned
Mike Mills: Reinke has always had a corporate culture of reducing waste, reusing items, and being responsible for how we use resources. We employ lean and efficient manufacturing processes and make responsible investments, above and beyond the requirements. One example of that is our new laser cell, which is used for cutting various components used in the manufacturing process. It requires nitrogen to operate at peak efficiency. We made a significant investment in a nitrogen generator that captures nitrogen from the atmosphere, uses it in production, and then releases it back into the atmosphere. Another example is that when we built our galvanizing facility, we made significant investments in making it a state-of-the-art facility capable of capturing the off-gassing from the galvanizing process. We process those gases with scrubbers so that the air we release is cleaner than the air we take in. We felt a responsibility to do that for the people in the community we live in as well as for our environment. We use or recycle all the scrap left over from the production process, including the dross that we scrape from our galvanizing kettle. End-of-life electronics are separated by type and properly disposed of. In the office, we are in the process of converting all our lighting to LED lighting, which is going to reduce our energy consumption significantly. We shred and recycle 100 percent of the paper waste that comes out of our office. We also do our own onsite wastewater management.
