The Bailey Company is a family and woman owned forklift dealership headquartered in Nashville, TN. Over the past ten years, the company has established itself as a market leader in sustainability by installing solar panels at seven facilities, converting all lights to LED, creating a strong recycling program, and donating to local environmental nonprofits. After developing an in-house zero waste program, the company began pursuing certification in 2019 through the TRUE program.
To create employee buy-in, company executives created a green team to involve staff from all departments and tied zero waste goals to performance metrics and scorecards. Staff were also encouraged to think creatively, resulting in the invention of an oil bottle draining device that allowed the plastic bottles to be recycled. The used oil is then used to heat our mechanic shop.
The Bailey Company is now diverting well over 99% of waste from the landfill through their recycling, compost, and reuse vendors and strong purchasing programs. Now that we are platinum certified with TRUE, we plan to help other local businesses with their zero waste goals and continue supporting environmental nonprofits.
"Sustainability has been important to us for a long time. TRUE certification legitimizes our efforts and clearly communicates our values to customers and suppliers. Our staff is also proud to be the first certified zero waste company in the state!" - Ryan Bailey, VP of Finance and Operations, The Bailey Company