TIETEK SIGNS SUPPLY AGREEMENT FOR CROSSTIES
Ramon Creixell, managing director of Avangard Industries Ltd., and Henry Sullivan, president of TieTek LLC, have announced their commitment to growing their companies’ strategic alliance, which was initiated in 2001.
Avangard will procure and pre-process all the thermoplastic raw materials, primarily recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE), that TieTek uses.
TieTek, a subsidiary of North American Technologies Group Inc. of Houston, produces composite railroad crossties that use recycled raw materials. The ties can be used in freight and transit applications where they offer "superior durability and improved life cycle economics compared to wood ties," according to TieTek. The company reports that its composite ties are now in commercial service in more than 20 states and six foreign countries.
Avangard has already supplied TieTek with about 20 million pounds of recycled materials and will expand its capacity to supply more than 50 million pounds a year as TieTek quadruples its production capacity. Production from the first of Avangard’s two new manufacturing lines at the company’s new plant in Marshall, Texas, is scheduled to begin in April.
Houston-based Avangard has 20 years of operational experience in the plastics industry, with facilities in the U.S., Mexico and Central America and global sourcing capabilities for all types of plastics. Avangard will install and operate a new HDPE processing line at its Marshall plant that will be dedicated to generating incremental HDPE volumes needed to support TieTek’s production.
PLASTICS RECYCLER RECEIVES LOAN APPROVAL
The West Virginia Economic Development Authority (WVEDA) has approved two loans to Polymer Alliance Services LLC, headquartered in Washington, W.Va., to build and operate a plastics recycling facility in Wood County, W.Va.
The company will use its $1.3 million loan to purchase real estate and its $483,000 loan to purchase equipment for its plant.
Polymer Alliance Services processes and sells recycled plastics. The company was attracted to West Virginia through the marketing efforts of the Ripley, W.Va.-based Polymer Alliance Zone and plans on purchasing plastic scrap from DuPont, General Electric and other manufacturers.
With 15 employees currently, Polymer Alliance Services expects to grow its ranks to 35 after one year and to 65 after three years.
NEW ORGANIZATION PROMOTES GLASS RECYCLING
The Glass Manufacturing Industry Council (GMIC), Columbus, Ohio, has established a Glass Recycling Division (GRD) that will serve to facilitate the development of tools and practices relating to the beneficial use of glass among interested parties.
"Our ultimate goal is to divert post-manufacturing and post-consumer glass that would otherwise be sent to landfills to a variety of added-value products and processes," Todd McCollough, GRD manager, says.
McCollough says the GRD will provide its members with a directory of glass users and cullet providers; promote members’ activities and products on a Web site; offer information retrieval services for technologies, glass sources and industry activities; and research R&D grant opportunities.
GMIC Executive Director Michael Greenman says the GRD is one of three initiatives in a national action plan to address challenges to glass recycling. The National Recycling Coalition, the Glass Packaging Institute and Recycle America Alliance are also involved in the effort.
Interested individuals, businesses and municipalities should contact McCollough at tmccollough@gmic.org or at (614) 818-9485; or Greenman at mgreenman@gmic.org or (614) 818-9423.
EARTHFIRST SIGNS AGREEMENT FOR TIRE RECYCLING PLANT
EarthFirst Technologies Inc. (EFTI), Tampa, Fla., and Proveedor Especilzado en Productos Ecologios Reciciables International LLC (PEPER) have signed a licensing agreement giving PEPER the sole right to own EFTI tire recycling plants in Mexico.
The technology allows 1-inch tire shreds to be processed and reduced to carbon, oil, gas and steel. The typical plant consists of two modules processing 20 tons of tires per day for a daily total of 40 tons. Constructing the plant with two units allows for optimal maintenance and redundancy, EFTI stated in a release.
PEPER will purchase the plants from EFTI at cost plus a reasonable fee. EFTI will sell the plant’s by-products and will provide technical support for its 49 percent ownership.
Turner Industries of Baton Rouge and its subsidiary Harmony Corp. will complete engineering, fabrication, testing, installation and operation of the plants for EFTI.
ERATECH RECEIVES SCRAP TIRE HAULING ID
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has issued a scrap tire transporter ID to ERAtech, a Dayton, Ohio-based company that develops programs to recycle waste materials into cement kiln fuels.
"The issuance of this ID number is the first phase of our plan to develop a scrap whole-tire collection infrastructure in both the Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio areas," Michael Linton, president of ERAtech ARF LLC, says.
"Our goal is to move up the supply chain and now provide the collection and supply of these tires to companies with whom we have an existing relationship," Linton adds.
WASTE OIL RECYCLER COMPLETES CLEANUP
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has announced that cleanup of the Sybill Oil site, a used oil recycling facility in Detroit, is now complete. The $1 million project began in July 2003.
"EPA needed to take action because of the potential for hazardous run-off from the site reaching the Detroit River," Tom Skinner, EPA’s regional administrator, says. "We and the other agencies also were concerned about flammable materials left at the site after Sybill sought bankruptcy protection in August 2001."
The cleanup included disposal of 26 above-ground storage tanks, 36 tons of bulk waste, 1 million gallons of waste liquids, more than 200 chemical drums and other containers and a laboratory area. A few buildings and a water tower remain at the site.
Sybill operated from 1991 to 2001, during which time the Detroit Water and Sewage Department and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality cited Sybill for air and wastewater discharge violations.
General Motors and Rouge Steel voluntarily removed and disposed of 1.3 million gallons of wastewater and waste oils from tanks and containment areas in 2002. In January 2003, EPA sealed off eight sewer drains to prevent oil releases and also upgraded locks and fences at the site.
The companies that paid for the cleanup include GM, Rouge Steel, Ford Motor Co. and Detroit Diesel Corp., (all of whom sent used oil to the site for recycling), Sybill Inc., and the estate of V.V. Madias, the owner and operator of Sybill, which is also known as SRS Inc.
EPA waived $56,000 in investigative and emergency containment costs it had already spent on the site under the terms of an administrative order.
NEW HAMPSHIRE TOWN RECEIVES OIL RECYCLING GRANT
The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) Commissioner Michael Nolin has announced that the agency’s Used Oil Grant Program has reimbursed the Town of Hampton $2,500 in grant funds for improvements made to its used oil collection center.
Funds were used to purchase a 500-gallon, double-walled collection tank and two oil spill response kits and for service to Hampton’s used oil burner.
"The Town’s transfer station facilities allow for both safe disposal and recycling of hundreds of gallons of oil annually," James Barrington, Hampton’s town manager, says. "Grant funding was used to offset some of the operation and maintenance costs of our do-it-yourself used oil collection program."
Through the grant program, a maximum of $2,500 per year in funds are available to political subdivisions and to some private entities to establish, to improve or to promote used oil collection centers. Municipalities may also apply funds toward the off-site transportation and recycling of used oil. Municipalities sharing a center may combine their awards for a total not to exceed $5,000 for improvements toward their used oil collection programs.
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