Plastics

GM recycles water bottles into parts for its Chevy Equinox

General Motors (GM), Detroit, is turning its employees’ recycled water bottles into noise-reducing fabric insulation that covers the Chevrolet Equinox engine. The bottles—collected from five of the company’s Michigan facilities—also are being used to manufacture air filtration components and insulation for coats for the homeless community.

Given its drive to zero waste, GM says all of its global facilities recycle their water bottles. However, the bottles collected at the five Michigan locations are now funneled into its “Do Your Part” project, where 11 businesses collaborate to give them a second life, the company says.

The air filtration components are used in GM facilities to protect air quality, while the insulation goes into coats that transform into sleeping bags from Empowerment Plan.

“Recycling is good, but viewing waste as a valuable resource that can be plugged into your operations or products is even better,” says John Bradburn, GM global manager of waste reduction. “It’s about rethinking the process and finding more sustainable ways to manufacture products and contribute to our communities.”

GM says it pursued this project after analyzing its impacts from a holistic business case:

• Sourcing recycled material costs the same while saving energy and reducing waste.
• Engaging a network of companies to process the material in North America strengthens the economy.
• Donating 24,000 yards of insulation—enough to make 6,500 coats—helps the homeless.

GM says it is demonstrating how a supply chain can become a supply web where business opportunities stem from an original project, furthering the company’s mission and driving additional social and economic impact.

Each partner engaged in this initiative brings specific capabilities:

• Hamtramck Recycling bails the plastic bottles collected from GM’s world headquarters at the Renaissance Center, Warren Technical Center, Orion Assembly, Flint Tool and Die and Flint Engine plants.
• Clean Tech Inc. washes the bottles and converts them to flake.
• Unifi recycles the flake into resin.
• Palmetto Synthetics processes the resin to create fibers.
• William T. Burnett & Co. processes the synthetic fibers into forms of fleece that serve all three applications.

GM also says it works with various organizations, such as Schupan Recycling in Flint, Michigan, to collect additional water bottles for the project.

The company says it uses recycled content in many of its vehicles. Cardboard from various GM plants is recycled into a sound-dampening material in the Buick Verano headliner; plastic caps and shipping aids from its Fort Wayne, Indiana, facility are mixed with other materials to make radiator shrouds for the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra; and test tires from Milford Proving Ground are shredded and used in manufacturing air and water baffles for a variety of GM cars.

GM has 131 landfill-free facilities around the world and recycles the equivalent of 38 million garbage bags of byproducts each year. For more information on GM’s environmental commitment, visit www.generalmotors.green.

Inaugural Re|focus Recycling Summit & Expo concludes

SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association, Washington, concluded its inaugural Re|focus Recycling Summit & Expo April 27, which included prominent speakers from the plastics, recycling, food, beverage and consumer products industries. By gathering the entire plastics supply chain together to discuss increasing the use of recycled content, improving and increasing the recyclability of plastic and exploring other sustainability strategies, the summit also provided brand owners and processors with the conversations, tools and resources they need to take their environmental goals from aspirational to operational, the organization says.

Re|focus highlights included:

• SC Johnson & Son Inc. Senior Vice President Global of Corporate Affairs, Communication and Sustainability Kelly Semrau, who revealed her company’s new initiative to help build infrastructure to make Ziploc packaging bags widely recyclable via curbside recycling programs;
• SPI’s release of its latest Plastics Market Watch report, “Automotive Recycling: Devalued is now Revalued,” also its second automotive-focused whitepaper, which provides an overview on the business benefits of recycling plastics in automobiles, makes the case for innovative use of recycled content and promotes increased recycling of plastic automobile parts; and
• Wal-Mart’s announcement that it will begin using the How2Recycle label on its private-label products.

In addition to the educational programming, Re|focus featured more than 10,000 net square feet of exhibit space where attendees could learn about the various products from more than 70 exhibitors/sponsors.

“We were so impressed by the turnout and candid conversation about working together collaboratively to reduce waste and promote recycling, with stakeholders and industry influencers representing various parts of the supply chain,” says Kim Holmes, senior director of recycling and diversion at SPI. “Re|focus had a successful inaugural summit, and next year we will return with an even more robust program to continue to drive conversation on how we all play a role in collectively committing to sustainable practices. We look forward to hosting in 2017.”