Logically Green ECO2
‘Robbing Peter To Pay Paul’ Is Pointless In Recycling
It defeats the green purpose to engage in recycling a product utilizing copious amounts of fresh water, a dwindling natural resource. But you have to wash plastic to recycle it. Processing plants use up to 100,000 gallons of water a day, mostly to wash food residue and chemicals off containers before they can be shredded into plastic flakes and returned to industry for use in hundreds of applications.
Now add to this the fact that we’ve already thrown some 40 billion plastic bottles into landfills this year. Why so many? Well, the Almighty Dollar of course, they are expensive to recycle, and don’t yield much of a profit.
Riding to the rescue is ECO2 Plastics, headquartered in San Francisco, California. ECO2 doesn’t dump anything down the drain – water or chemicals. The Company created the first FDA-approved, waterless recycling process, called the ECO2 Environmental System. The process employs a corn-based, biodegradable solvent and a liquid carbon dioxide (captured from power plants,an additional benefit), bath in a closed-loop system that cleans and dissolves buildup and is then distilled to remove sugars and glues, and sequestered so it can be reused. Saving billions of gallons of water each year, not to mention landfill space. The patent-pending process was developed through a research partnership with Honeywell FM&T and the US Department of Energy (DOE).
The recycled plastic from this process is of the highest quality. It is odor-free and contaminant-free to 100 parts per million. Every 1,000 pounds is tested for intrinsic viscosity, melt flow, density, moisture content and PVC content. A guaranteed perfect product.
No water and no waste equals no added costs. ECO2′s process allows for the production of the highest quality product with the least possible cost – financial or environmental. With this system, plants can slash expenses by 1/3 through essentially eliminating their water bill. The first plant started using this water saving process in October 2008, in Riverbank, California, which at this time is in the process of being upgraded and relocated to a new location in Northern California.
ECO2′s product is virtually identical to traditionally recycled plastic, but produced in a more efficient and earth-friendly way. Plants utilizing this process could significantly increase the number of plastic bottles that are recycled in the US and Europe each year. There is no logical reason to recycle any other way.
ECO2′s technology isn’t confined to PET (polyethylene terephthalate), recycling. The United States Council for Automotive Research’s (USCAR) Vehicle Recycling Partnership (VRP), (composed of researchers from DaimlerChrysler, Ford and General Motors), has contracted with ECO2 to evaluate its recycling technology. Because ECO2 is developing processes that will reclaim HDPE (high density polyethylene), polypropylene, previously unrecyclable auto parts, and other plastics. And since this technology removes substances of concern from plastics recovered from “shredder residue” – (the material left when end-of-life vehicles (ELV), household appliances and other large items are “shredded” by a large, grinding hammer-mill, or shredder) – is part of their recycling process.
ECO2 dubbed the process – eco.logical.recycling – because it eliminates the use of water, respects and preserves the environment, while delivering a high quality recycled plastic flake, which is approved by the FDA for use in food contact applications. Truly, an earth-friendly product at no extra, if not lower, cost.
Making plastic recycling more ecological, more economical, and quite simply more logical – yep, that’s eco.logical.recycling!
….. as the green future unfolds.
Tags: almighty dollar, bottles, climate, drain water, eco2 plastics, envronment, Everything Solar, flow density, food residue, intrinsic viscosity, landfill space, liquid carbon dioxide, patent pending process, perfect product, plant star, plastic, plastic flakes, power plants, recycled plastic, recycling, recycling process, research partnership, robbing peter to pay paul, san francisco california, us department of energy, us department of energy doe, water, wind
November 21st, 2009 at 3:34 am
Great Post. I’m always frustrate about things like this, this doesn’t account for the water used at home to rinse, rinse, rinse the plastic before we bin it!
November 21st, 2009 at 5:42 am
Hi Tania … So true! I am sure the numbers go up even further when this is added in.
November 21st, 2009 at 3:04 pm
A wonderful post. I love companies, that attack waste in such a beneficial way, especially plastic. With companies such as this, we could eventually be cleaning up landfills! We can hope!
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:31 am
Sometimes, what looks like a green way to do things turns out to be not a very good idea after all. Your post rightly suggests that there is no point in recycling just for recycling’s sake if it is finally going to prove counter productive to our efforts. We need to develop smarter ways to tackle this problem. We run a global sustainability directory called Climatarians where we highlight these issues.
November 23rd, 2009 at 1:27 pm
We all want to do the right thing and recycle, but I think there are some instances where it’s just not worth it until a better method is developed.
.-= corrin´s last blog ..in a van down by the river =-.
November 23rd, 2009 at 7:39 pm
Thanks for this post Linda. Although there are benefits to recycling, we’re trying to focus on reusing as much as possible.
.-= Maureen´s last blog ..Generic Marketing System Confusion =-.
November 24th, 2009 at 5:30 am
Hi Barbara … It seems to be a trend and I like it!
November 24th, 2009 at 5:39 am
Hi Climatarian … I have seen your site and like it. We just need to keep efforts like this company is doing to the forefront and hope that it will catch on.
Hi Corrin … Yes! it is an effort but when done right it certainly helps all of us.
Hi Maureen … Reusing, recycling, etc. brings us closer to going green in our lives.
November 24th, 2009 at 8:50 am
I totally agree with you on the first part of ‘Robbing from Peter to pay Paul.’ It totally defeats the purpose of recycling in the first place. Especially when water is such a precious resource. With this new technology, we can recycle plastic in an environmental friendly way.
.-= BK´s last blog ..Thanksgiving by Edgar Albert Guest =-.
November 24th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
Hi BK … Thanks for your support! I really like their approach.
Hi Maureen … Those folks at MIT are just amazing and are in the green mode!
November 25th, 2009 at 10:48 am
Of course reducing the use of packaging in the first place is also part of the solution
.-= vein´s last blog ..Why Are Our Minds in the Gutter =-.
November 25th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Hi vein … You bet your sweet bippy! The trend is just starting.
November 26th, 2009 at 5:58 am
that is so beautiful, good picture you got friend, i like that. thx
.-= Beauty´s last blog ..Liberti of Financial Mortage =-.
November 26th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Hi Beauty … Cool! come back again!
November 26th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
People are so unaware of the amounts of water that are used in various processes, including recycling. It’s very encouraging to find this company has developed a wonderful new system. I hope they roll it out all over the world.
November 26th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Hi A. … It is my hope as well and the sooner the better!
November 29th, 2009 at 11:44 am
This is a thought provoking post about sustainability. I was recently reading about a company that makes biodegradeable and compostable disposable flatware using only fallen leaves off trees and water but they use little water in the production of the dishes. Here is a post about it. Compostable Dishes Made From Leaves
.-= TC´s last blog ..Compostable Dishes Made From Leaves =-.
November 30th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Hi TC … Thanks for coming by and sharing. I read that, very interesting.
November 30th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
I love the progress that is being made world wide with green technology – really gives one hope for a better future. I wonder how long it will take before all recycling centers convert to this system, and will we get to a day when we can just dump any kind of plastic in the recycling bin knowing it will all be recyclable? That’s what I want for Christmas… and my two front teeth… and Tiger Woods 2010 for the Wii.. oh heck and an electric car, but that’s all I want, really.
.-= Earth Friendly Goodies´s last blog ..Hey, You Put Your Beer on My Village People! =-.
December 1st, 2009 at 6:40 am
Hi Earth Friendly …. LOL! Yeah, I want a couple of solar panels and a electric/solar truck!
It would also be a heck of a present if all companies did what this one does!
December 1st, 2009 at 8:10 am
Quite agree this sort of thing is pointless the real answer is for us not to want so much..
December 1st, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Hi promotional pens … not only that but companies like this one helps point us in that direction!