Rocky Hill Company Earns GreenCircle Award

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) presented 15 Connecticut businesses and individuals with GreenCircle awards on Wednesday for their efforts to protect the environment and natural resources.

Award winners have had a positive impact by reducing energy and water consumption, increasing recycling at their businesses and promoting conservation efforts. And one of the winners is the Rocky Hill-based Connecticut Lottery Corporation.

The Lottery provides Instant Ticket Dispensers made of plastic for lottery retailers. The company used to throw out the dirty ones and buy new ones, but now they clean them in an energy-efficient dishwasher and return them to the field. Since this program started in 2002, approximately 900 dispensers are recycled every year which prevents about 3,000 pounds of plastic from ending up in a landfill.

The Lottery purchases green products. Employees work under fluorescent lights and use recycled paper in their printers and copiers, packaging envelopes and the Instant Tickets they produce. Binders are biodegradable. In the break rooms and at corporate functions, biodegradable plates, cups, and cutlery are used. Green soaps and cleaning products are supplied in their buildings. Green landscaping products are used on the grounds. Old records are sent to a document-shredding service to conserve landfill space. Lottery winners receive recyclable bags.

“Since the Agency launched the GreenCircle Award Program 17 years ago, approximately 1,100 individuals, businesses, schools and organizations have been recognized for making a real difference in preserving natural resources and protecting the quality of the state’s air, water and lands,” Commissioner of DEEP Robert Klee said in a statement.

The Hartford Business Journal will support the GreenCircle Sustainability Awards program by promoting nominations, featuring winners in their two publications – the Hartford Business Journal and the Green Guide – and also hosting all winners at an award ceremony. The first sustainability awards will be presented this spring.