A Word About Recycling with Ollie Maier
Pray you had a great and safe holiday season and are now ready to go back to work — if you were lucky enough to have days off. I'm still up here in Minnesota with icy roads today and radio/TV announcements to stay off the roads — even all buses in the Twin Cities were stopped.
Last week, I talked about one company’s efforts to process difficult-to-handle recycled plastic materials. The information came from a Resource Recycling newsletter. Today, I will cover a little bit more concerning it.
PreZero, formerly known as GreenCycle, is part of a German retail company which is greatly involved in waste management and recycling in Europe. In 2018, they combined with ACI (Advanced Chemical Industries), a company operating in South Carolina since 1986.
ACI had been focusing on the difficult-to-process plastic material for over a decade. It also has facilities in Arizona, Michigan and Nebraska. Let’s hope they consider coming to Texas so it’s easier to take care of the difficult-to- process recycled plastics here too.
As mentioned last week, they pelletize the difficult-to-process plastic material. Many of these pellets will go to California reusable bag producers, since laws in that state require manufactures making plastic products to use 20% post-consumer content and plan on increasing to 40% later in 2020.
Switching subjects to another article in the newsletter, but still staying with plastic, I found a Canadian company ESKA is planning to use only bottles made from 100% recycled plastic by April 1st of this year.
ESKA sells its non-carbonated, bottled water under the name of Natural Spring Water. In using bottles made from 100% recycled plastic, ESKA is trying to do its part in "helping to reduce waste, use natural resources more efficiently and support a sustainable future."
They believe using bottles made from 100% recycled plastic gives new life for used plastic, and doesn’t require the manufacturing of new, virgin plastic.
It also demonstrates the importance of creating a closed loop system of recycling and reuse. And it fits in with their drinking water being 100% natural without any additives.
It purchases its bottles from another Canadian company, Plastrec, manufacturer of recycled plastic (rPET). Plastrec, which started in 1992, is a leading North American manufacture. It was one of the first to develop food grade recycled PET from post-consumer material.
Let’s hope that more companies, especially those in our country, follow their lead and also start using bottles made from 100% recycled material.
Till next week, do have a great one...
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Ollie is a local citizen concerned with the environment and helping others. A retired Air Force fighter and instructor pilot, he is a graduate of Leadership San Marcos and received his degrees at Texas State University where he worked on staff before totally retiring. For questions or comments, he invites you to call him at 512-353-7432.or email omaier@txstate.edu.
