Collection corner

String it together

When it comes to keeping warm this winter, one clothing company wants you to put your money where your mouth is.

Dirtball Fashion, a Hickory, North Carolina-based clothing manufacturer of 100-percent-recyclable and American-made products, has launched “The 50” jacket. Fifty plastic bottles are recycled into each puffer coat, which is made of postconsumer plastic bottles that are sorted according to color, stripped of labels and caps, washed and ground down to shavings, the company says. The jacket also is 100 percent recyclable.

Jackets can be returned to Dirtball to be processed back into polyester fibers that are nearly identical chemically and functionally to virgin polyester, according to the company.

Visit www.dirtballfashion.com/the-50 for more information.
 

*”Report on Postconsumer PET Container Recycling Activity in 2013,” by the National Association for PET Container Resources and the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers

Squared away

If you are going to walk the walk, how about doing so on recycled flooring? FLOR Inc., a Chicago-based carpet squares design company, recently hosted a carpet and rug collection event in Denver that took in more than 3,000 pounds of the materials. The company says it then recycled the old carpet at its distribution center in Atlanta, where new carpet design squares are manufactured.

FLOR says nearly all of its design square styles are made 100 percent from recycled nylon. Through its Return & Recycle Program, which collects and recycles old carpet into new styles, the company, along with its parent company, Interface Inc., says it has seen success since its launch in 1995, diverting more than 287 million pounds of materials from landfills.

In light of the success the brand saw in Denver, FLOR says it plans to expand this initiative to more markets throughout the U.S. in 2015.

For more information, visit www.flor.com.
 

197 Million
Pounds of postconsumer carpet recycled in 2013, a recycling rate of 5 percent.
– Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE)2013 Annual Report

Chill the bill

How cool! Since 2009, Michigan residents have donated more than 100,000 refrigerators and freezers for recycling, according to the state’s largest utility provider, Consumers Energy, which collects the appliances. Consumers Energy says Michigan’s residents, who receive $50 for each refrigerator or freezer donated, have saved $575 million through improved energy efficiency, while 50 jobs were created to disassemble the appliances.

The utility provider and its partner, Jaco Environmental, a Mill Creek, Washington-based appliance recycler, are members of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Responsible Appliance Disposal program, ensuring that:

• refrigerant is recovered and re- claimed or destroyed;
• foam is recovered and reclaimed or destroyed;
• metals, plastic and glass are re- cycled; and
• PCBs (polychlorinated biphynols), mercury and used oil are recovered and properly disposed.

Visit www.consumersenergy.com/recycle for more information.

Do you have a unique recycling-focused story? Please send a press release to Megan Workman at mworkman@gie.net.