Nonmetallics

FP INTERNATIONAL INCREASES RECYCLING RATE

FP International, Redwood City, Calif., has announced a 9.3% increase in the amount of expanded polystyrene (EPS) the company recycled last year. “Our polystyrene recycling program grew significantly last year,” says company president Arthur Graham. “We recycled 8.8 million pounds of EPS, over 75,000 pounds more than we processed in 1998.”

FP International has recycled more than 62 million pounds of EPS packaging since it began polystyrene recycling in 1990. FP International recycles polystyrene foam packaging collected from equipment manufacturers, local businesses and individuals.

PLASTIC BEER BOTTLES ENTER MARKET

Plastic beer bottles, a product many in the recycling industry once feared was not designed to be recycled easily, will now be available from Miller Brewing Co. nation-wide at stores, bars and sports arenas. The release of the plastic bottles onto the national market was timed with St. Patrick’s Day and the increased alcohol consumption associated with that holiday.

Miller Brewing Co., Milwaukee, is including new plastic caps on the beer bottles and new labels this summer, both of which are designed to enhance the acceptance of the packages into current recycling streams. Miller’s plastic beer bottle debuted in October 1998 to a number of select metropolitan areas. The company says retailer demand has prompted it to increase the availability of its plastic bottles.

Miller says its plastic bottles have been found to keep beer cold longer than aluminum cans and just as long as their glass counterparts. The plastic container is also being touted by Miller for safety and security reasons, to be used at places such as pools and beaches where glass bottles are often not allowed.

Plastic-bottled beer has been sold at several National Football League stadiums, major league baseball parks and National Basketball Association arenas. The bottles are available in both 16-ounce and 20-ounce sizes.

CONTAINER MAKERS AWARDED FOR NEW COATINGS

The Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR), Arlington, Va., has honored four packaging manufacturers for their participation in a program to test new bottle compositions with plastics recyclers.

The companies awarded helped test the recyclability of Bairocade coatings, which are applied to the exterior of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles to extend the life and freshness of consumer food products.

PPG Industries, Pittsburgh; Amcor PET Packaging, Dorval, Quebec, Canada; Constar, Philadelphia; and Graham Packaging, York, Pa., have received the APR’s Partners for Change Award. The award is part of the Champions for Change program that promotes cooperative testing among consumer product companies, suppliers, converters and others so plastics recycling can keep pace with new packaging technologies.

Testing results indicated PET treated with Bairocade coatings can be recycled into fiber, strapping, sheet and single-layer PET food and beverage containers. The coating can be removed from the PET during the grind and wash phase typical in most recycling processing facilities.

“It’s very gratifying that the time and effort PPG and the consortium have invested in determining the recyclability of Bairocade coatings has been recognized by such an important organization,” says John Lewis, marketing specialist in PPG’s packaging coatings business unit. “From the very beginning, we at PPG have known just how important recycling is in the packaging industry.”

Bairocade coatings have been applied to more than one billion bottles in the past six years—ranging from carbonated soft drinks in the Middle East to beer in Australia.

RUBBER AND TIRE DIRECTORY AVAILABLE

With more than 2,000 listings of companies, the Scrap Tire & Rubber Users Directory is available from the Recycling Research Institute, Suffield, Conn. It provides current statistical market data in the Market Price Survey and expanded sections featuring rubber reprocessors and materials suppliers.

New to the directory format are company codings by product type for reference and information on size reduction, processing and material handling equipment for preparing scrap tires is all included.

PARTNERSHIP BOOSTS OIL RECYCLING IN TEXAS

An agreement between H&W Petroleum Co. Inc., Houston, and ProCycle Inc., Springtown, Texas, could boost oil recycling rates in both the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth areas.

ProCycle has signed a 20-year lease and built a 126,000-gallon transfer facility on H&W’s property in Houston. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the companies have agreed to take oil waste products generated by both companies in that region to ProCycle’s Springtown plant for recycling.

H&W sells Exxon and Texaco lubricants and tank equipment to industrial, commercial and municipal users. “We chose ProCycle as the sole service provider for collection of oily waste materials in Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth because of the company’s reputation in the business,” says H&W vice president Len Badal.