- Business Council of Alabama and Alabama Technology Network’s
Manufacturer of the Year (Medium Category), 2007
- Project on Global Working Families study by Harvard University,
one of four U.S. companies selected out of 11 worldwide
- EPA Landfill Methane Outreach Program Project of the Year, 2006
- Alabama Associated General Contractors Build Alabama Award, 2006
- Governor’s Conservation Achievement Award for Air Conservationist of
the Year, 1999 and 2007
Purpose: The purpose of the Governor's Conservation Achievement Awards program is to promote leadership by example and in turn increase conservation of the natural resources of the State of Alabama - its wildlife, forests, soils, water, and air. The program is designed to bring about a greater knowledge and awareness of conservation practices and projects, and to give proper recognition to those persons and organizations that make outstanding contributions to the natural resource welfare of the community and the state.
Award: Air Conservationist - To recognize outstanding efforts of an individual, group, firm, or agency toward improvement of air quality in Alabama.
Through the years, industry has often stepped in to become part of a solution to an environmental problem. Such was the case in Montgomery, Ala., where the city was faced with compliance to the New Source Performance Standards of the Clean Air Act, as related to landfill gas emissions. In, early 1996, the city began considering a landfill gas recovery project to meet that obligation.
In 1994, Jenkins Brick Company, located in Montgomery and the only large consumer of gas in the area, had begun considering the use of landfill gases to fire its products. So when Jenkins Brick Company contacted the city of Montgomery in 1996 with an offer to use the landfill gas in its production facility, a resolution to the city's problem was defined.
In January 1999, Jenkins Brick switched its fuel supply from natural gas to landfill gas at its Montgomery production facility one zone at a time on each side of its first kiln. It took one week to convert the entire kiln. Since that time, the company has continued to burn landfill gas.
As a result of this partnership, Jenkins Brick Company was the 1999 recipient of this prestigious award for their efforts in improving air quality.