P.C. POLYMERS INC. HAS NEW HIRES FOR RECYCLING PROJECT
As part of a $344,500 expansion project, P.C. Polymers Inc., Poseyville, Ind., will create 12 new jobs and be awarded a $155,000 zero-interest loan from the State of Indiana’s Recycling Promotion and Assistance Fun (RPAF). "Companies like P.C. Polymers Inc. provide local markets for Indiana’s recyclables and help us to divert solid waste from landfills," says Lt. Gov. Joe Kernan. "The RPAF program allows Indiana recyclers to create jobs and invest in their communities while benefiting the environment." P.C. Polymers specializes in making beanbag chairs out of recycled polystyrene. The loan will help the company purchase new equipment to expand its operation to grind and pelletize post-industrial plastics to make recycled products. "The partnership that P.C. Polymers Inc. has formed with the state of Indiana is great," says Donald Schenk, office manager for P.C. Polymers Inc. "The RPF loan program allows us the opportunity to better serve our customers needs."VINYL COUNCIL HOLDS FORUM
The Vinyl Council of Canada (VCC), Mississauga, Ontario, held a panel to discuss end of life management of products made from vinyl or polyvinyl chloride (PVC). PVC, the second largest selling plastic, is disliked by some environmental groups because it is made from potentially toxic chlorine and its recycling markets have proven difficult to establish. D’Lane Wisener of the Geon Co., Avon Lake, Ohio, presented findings from the vinyl industry’s Principia Report, an analysis of material flows and uses in the vinyl industry. About 5.75 million tons of "rigid" vinyl is produced each year, and about 35,500 tons are disposed of, or about half a percent. The report contends that recycling efforts to recover post-industrial and post-consumer PVC are well established. But the industry is concerned that as durable vinyl products reach the end of their lives that volumes of PVC entering the municipal waste stream will increase. How to separate and use the vinyl is becoming a question that needs to be answered. John Hanson of the Recycling Council of Ontario, Toronto, did not have encouraging news concerning the recycling of PVC packaging. He says that while some Ontario recyclers have tried separating out PVC packaging, the quantities were too small to justify the effort. "Municipal program operators let vinyl containers recovered through the Blue Box go over the end of the conveyor into the residuals bin." Often, these residual PVC containers begin to deteriorate before a shipment can be put together for recycling.RECYCLED MATERIALS TO BE USED TO RESURFACE
Sears Auto Center, Hoffman Estates, Ill., has donated 10,000 pounds of recycled rubber surfacing products to the Torrance Unified School District near Los Angeles. The material will be used to resurface school playgrounds. The tires used for the project were gathered during Torrance County’s Tire Amnesty Day, sponsored by Sears Auto Center and the County of Los Angeles in November. To bring the project into the classroom, students learned about environmental protection and recycling in December. "We welcome Sears and the County’s support in resurfacing the Torrance playgrounds," says Torrance mayor Dee Hardison. "It shows a very tangible way that the public and private sector can work together to improve the communities in which they operate in." The playground resurfacing project is part of Sears Auto Group’s nationwide ROTATE (Recycling Old Tires Aids the Environment) initiative. Scrap tires collected are cleaned, shredded and processed into a variety of products such as material for basketball and tennis courts and roofing compounds.RUBBER RECYCLER FEATURED ON TV
Rubber recycler EnviroKare Tech Inc., Las Vegas, was a featured company on Emerging Company Report, a nationally syndicated television program that profiles emerging growth companies. EnviroKare recycles the rubber from scrap tires and converts it into industrial pallets. "The pallet industry achieves $5 billion in revenues annually," says Doug Davidson, an Investor Relations representative. "Current pallets made from wood break easily, and $1.2 billion is spent each year repairing them. Our pallets save trees and help eliminate the problem of discarded tires."The pallet’s substrate consists primarily of recycled rubber derived from scrap tires and of recycled plastic materials.
JAITIRE EXPANDS EUROPEAN DEALERSHIPS
Crown III, a patented crumb rubber top dressing, is being marketed in France after success in the United Kingdom and the United States. The product reduces turf grass wear and was developed and patented by Michigan State University. About 10% of golf cart paths use the product, as well as many collegiate, professional and municipal athletic fields.ARCHIE MANNING TO KEYNOTE
Football legend Archie Manning will present the keynote address at the World ITRA Expo General Session on May 2, 2000 at 8 am. The event will be held at the Opryland Hotel Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn. Manning was recently named as one of the 10 outstanding New Orleanians by the Public Relations Society of America. He currently serves in public relations and consulting capacities for several local, regional and national companies.TIREX SELLS SYSTEM TO CHINA
Tirex Corp., Montreal, has announced the signing of an agreement to sell its TCS-1 cryogenic tire recycling system technology to the Shandong Hongli Group in Shandong Province, China for $2.25 million. Hongli Group is also expected, after further negotiations, to obtain the exclusive right to market and manufacture the TCS-1 System in China. The Hongli Group is a state-owned large-scale enterprise, mainly manufacturing agricultural machinery, but also managing many other businesses. There are five companies in the Hongli Group, which reportedly has assets of $ 620 million and employs 4,500 people. The Tirex Corp. board has also announced that it has appointed John L. Threshie Jr. as president and director. Threshie notes that the signing of the agreement with the Hongli Group "further demonstrates the international recognition of our TCS-1 technology as a ‘state-of-the-art’ product and system," and adds that other inquiries have been received.OIL RECYCLING RECEIVES BOOST IN CALIFORNIA
Tosco Marketing Co., operators of Union 76 service stations and Circle K stores, is promoting the California Environmental Protection Agency’s "California Environmental Hotline," on its oil-based products packaging. Union 76 is the first oil company in the state to provide the toll-free hotline on its more than 20 million consumer oil production containers sold in the state. Another 33 million oil product containers sold in adjoining states will also include the number, which provides callers with information about the more than 2,700 used oil collection facilities located in California.
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