ITEC PLANT PREPARES TO RAMP UP PRODUCTION
Itec Environmental Group Inc., based in Oakdale, Calif., has announced that it has begun recycling operations at its Riverbank, Calif., plant.
According to a press release from the company, the Riverbank plant has begun operating one eight-hour shift per day, five days per week, producing 14,300 pounds of recycled PET flakes per day.
Itec says it expects to increase production to 24-hours per day, seven days per week within the next two months and to add additional capacity, increasing daily production to 19,100 pounds of recycled PET flakes.
During the next eight months, the company will acquire and install additional equipment that will improve daily output to 198,000 pounds of recycled PET flakes. Itec also anticipates the installation of a pellet production system that will increase the overall value of the recycled product and generate greater return on its recycled PET, according to the company.
Itec’s Eco2 System uses no water in the cleaning and processing of PET material and also removes contaminants and odors from the finished flake, according to the company.
Itec also has announced that it will acquire two plastics recycling plants previously owned by Waste Management Recycle America. The plants, which are in Chicago and Raleigh, N.C., will allow Itec to integrate its Eco2 Environmental Systems into established facilities, according to the company.
The two companies also plan to enter into a long-term supply agreement in which Waste Management Recycle America will provide significant volumes of PET and HDPE scrap to Itec for processing.
TIRES
PENNSYLVANIA CONDUCTS SCRAP TIRE DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS
Pennsylvania has invested $700,000 in scrap-tire-reuse demonstration projects that could rid the state of 500,000 discarded tires while rehabilitating rural roads.
Penn State University’s Center for Dirt and Gravel Road Studies is using baled scrap tires as a fill material to rebuild severely entrenched dirt and gravel roads.
The tire bales are being used as a fill base on portions of two roads in Madison and Greenwood townships in Columbia County. Drainage structures allow sediment-bearing runoff to be dispersed to vegetated adjacent land rather than flowing down the dirt roads and into streams, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) says.
Work on the projects is expected to be complete this summer. Financing for the demonstration project comes from the Starr Waste Tire Reuse Grant Program, which is administered by the Pennsylvania DEP.
Explore the July 2006 Issue
Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read.
Latest from Recycling Today
- ReElement, Posco partner to develop rare earth, magnet supply chain
- Comau to take part in EU’s Reinforce project
- Sustainable packaging: How do we get there?
- ReMA accepts Lifetime Achievement nominations
- ExxonMobil will add to chemical recycling capacity
- ESAB unveils new cutting torch models
- Celsa UK assets sold to Czech investment fund
- EPA releases ‘National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution’
