Fort Irwin, situated in southern California’s Mojave Desert, places a high priority on pollution prevention and waste minimization. Two excellent examples of Fort Irwin’s innovation in these areas are the antifreeze program and the air cleaner recycling program. Together, these programs have the potential to save the Army millions of dollars a year while reducing the amounts of solid and hazardous waste, which must be disposed, each year. Here’s how they work:

Air Filter Recycling

When it comes to dust, Fort Irwin is second to none. Sparse vegetation and dry, windy conditions can raise quite a cloud at times. Keeping the Army’s fighting vehicles operational in this kind of environment requires frequent changes of air filters, and that can get expensive.

The M-1 Abrahms tanks are used by the Blue Force rotational units when they do battle with the home team 11th Cavalry Regiment. Each tank has three air filters and units are required to change all air filters on every vehicle three times per rotation, at a replacement cost of around $120 each. The two filters on each of the 11th Cav’s 150 Sheridan tanks cost about $3,150 each. When you consider that the rotation may involve more than 2,000 vehicles, you start to get an idea of the costs involved. Prior to the cleaning/recycling effort, all of the filters used during the rotations were disposed either through DRMO, in the landfill or illegally in a downrange gully.

Fort Irwin’s air filter cleaning program eliminates this waste. The program, developed and operated by the Aire-Vac Air Filter Cleaning Company, uses a combination of high-pressure air and a vortex-creating vacuum to blow out the filters. The exhaust stream is run through cyclone and bag filters to remove fine particulates, and the remainder of the stream is directed to 55-gallon drums. Since analysis of the dust has shown that it has no harmful constituents, the dust can be returned to the desert from whence it came. The cost: about $45 per filter.

Since the program’s inception in March 1997, Fort Irwin’s air filter recycling program has saved the Army over $2,000,000. Furthermore, the program is projected to produce a savings of $5,000,000 a year, based on ten training rotations per year.

Antifreeze Recycling

The high desert environment at Fort Irwin also takes a toll on engine cooling systems. Each rotation draws 500 gallons of replacement antifreeze at the beginning of the training cycle. New antifreeze costs nearly $6.00 per gallon; disposing of used antifreeze costs $0.85 per gallon. Now, however, up to 90 percent of Fort Irwin’s antifreeze waste stream can be recycled at a cost of about $2.80 per gallon – a net savings of $4.05 per gallon.

As a vehicle’s antifreeze is changed out, the antifreeze is collected and brought to the recycling station run by Cool and Neat contractors. The antifreeze is run through a series of mechanical filtration steps, which remove corrosion by-products and particulates. Virgin antifreeze is then blended with the reclaimed antifreeze to adjust the freeze/boil points to specifications. The blended antifreeze is then stockpiled to await reuse. Since its inception, Fort Irwin’s antifreeze recycling program has reclaimed 11,970 gallons of antifreeze, leading to a total cost savings in excess of $48,000.

In Brief:

Success: Fort Irwin has implemented two innovative pollution prevention programs. Together, these programs have the potential to save the Army – and the taxpayers – a significant amount of money.
Results: Air filter recycling resulted in savings of over $2 million in 1997 alone. In 1997, 11,970 gallons of antifreeze were recycled on Fort Irwin, resulting in cost savings of more than $48,000.
POC: Mr. Russ Evans, Fort Irwin’s Pollution Prevention POC
DSN: 470-6714
COMM: (760) 380-6714
E-mail: evansr@irwin.army.mil