SUSTAINABILITY
At Shoto Corporation we know that making a Greener product is an important part of sustainability in our industry. But a Green product is the end result of a process dedicated towards the environmentally friendly efforts and initiatives throughout the manufacturing process.
Our Products
At Shoto we make table tops, work surfaces, and laminated panel products for the commercial, hospitality, educational and health care market segments. The greatest portion of our products consists of a high-pressure laminate face and backing sheet affixed to a substrate with wood, PVC or vinyl edge treatments.
Environmentally friendly materials used in the process include:
FACE LAMINATES
Our face laminates are available either Greenguard or SCS (Green Cross) Certification. Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC®) Certified laminates are also available.
CORE/SUBSTRATE MATERIAL
Many of our substrates have environmentally friendly components, including being California Air Resources Board-Phase 2 certified for reduced formaldehyde emissions. Many also include SCS certification which includes a minimum 90% pre-consumer recycled wood content. Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC®) Certified board is also available.
BACKER SHEETS
Backers also carry Greenguard certification and FSC® Certified backer sheets are also available
ADHESIVE
Plastic laminate and backing sheets are bonded to the substrate using water based environmentally friendly cross-linking adhesive containing no added urea formaldehyde.
TABLE BASES
Table bases are manufactured from steel containing a minimum recycled content material of 30%, then powder-coated, which eliminates solvents and volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) from the finishing process. Table bases can be recycled at the end of their useful term.
FOREST STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL® (FSC) CERTIFICATION
Shoto Corporation is an FSC® Certified manufacturer, a distinction which denotes Shoto as a manufacturer committed to sustainable forestry, and the use of sustainable wood materials in the manufacturing of its products. Shoto welcomes the opportunity to quote FSC® Certified products for its varied customer base.
LEED CREDITS
Many of the products we use in our process also carry LEED credits from the U.S. Green Building Council, an organization which has set many of the benchmarks for the environmental sustainability in the building products industry.
Our Process
Making a green product means more from a manufacturer like Shoto Corporation when that company is committed to Green Processes. Shoto is continually investigating and reviewing the latest in technologies, procedures and equipment in order to minimize the impact our processes have upon the environment. Here are just a few of the efforts in our process which we undertake to lessen the impact our manufacturing has upon the environment.
AIR QUALITY
From daily monitoring of our discharges, to the use of the latest in spray finish tools and technologies, to efforts to minimize ambient dust we continue to seek the latest and best ideas for preserving the quality of air, both within our plants for our talented workforce, and outside our plants for the rest of our community.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
We are employing variable frequency drive components in connection with a number of our systems as a means of ramping down energy consumption to precisely match necessary demand. We recently undertook a complete replacement of the lighting system in our plants in order to decrease energy consumption. We are employing contractors to locate and isolate our greatest sources of energy demand with an eye toward minimizing either the consumption or the impact of the consumption on our overall needs.
WASTE REDUCTION
We have employed numerous techniques to limit the waste generated by our facilities. A very large component of our solid wood waste is converted and used for home heating rather than being land filled. We re-use packaging materials wherever possible, including building returnable crates and skids, and recycled paper based packaging materials throughout the process. We have committed to a raw material yield management strategy well ahead of our competitors in the industry. The skill and training of our staff have reduced the need for rework to a fraction of industry averages.
Our People
At Shoto we know that Green is not only good sense, but good business as well. This attitude pervades our organization—an organization where a culture of environmental sustainability is championed by all. Our staff continues to impress us with new and innovative ideas as to how we can build both a better and greener product.