February 2011 Green Matters

Clear Path Recycling begins operations

Clear Path Recycling LLC (CPR), the PET recycling joint venture company established by Shaw Industries Group Inc. and DAK Americas LLC, has completed the first phase of its PET recycling facility in Fayetteville, N.C. Now operational, the plant produces Recycled PET (RPET) flake from post-consumer PET bottles.

The plant has the capability to recycle up to 160 million pounds of PET bottles per year, which will save more than 550,000 cubic yards of landfill space and 1.9 trillion BTUs of energy annually, according to CPR.

“The start-up of the facility is a milestone for CPR and its parent companies in their sustainability initiatives of reducing environmental impact while creating a viable product for use in their product offerings,” said Ron Salati, CPR’s vp, administration and commercial sales.

“The recycled PET produced by Clear Path will give us even greater ability to provide our customers with the attractive, durable, and environmentally responsible flooring they desire,” added Vance Bell, ceo of Shaw Industries Group Inc.

Bentley Prince Street earns green status, WRAP award

Bentley Prince Street has achieved Climate Registered status by measuring and third-party verifying its carbon footprint to The Climate Registry’s best-in-class program. Additionally, the company was recently named one of 285 winners of the 2010 Waste Reduction Award Program (WRAP), by the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle).

CalRecycle selected each WRAP winner based on its reported waste prevention, recycling and composting, procurement, and educational activities. Since the award’s inception in 1993, Bentley Prince Street has won 10 times.

“Being a 10-time WRAP winner distinguishes us as a company committed to preserving our state’s natural resources and letting our companies know that we take waste reduction seriously,” said Anthony Minite, Bentley Prince Street president.

New process could conserve water for carpet industry

Aqua-Chem Inc., a water purification solution provider, and Enviro-Solutions LLC, an industrial water treatment equipment and chemical firm, reported that initial results from a pilot project demonstrate it is both practical and economically feasible to simultaneously remove dye and other contaminants from wastewater used in large-scale carpet manufacturing.

The project shows the companies’ process can produce potable quality water and maintain an 80% recovery rate from wastewater that is typically sent downstream to sewers after the manufacturing process, while also extracting valuable heat from the water for reuse at the facility. The companies are preparing to take this new process to market.

“With the ability to recycle at least 80% of their wastewater, manufacturers will conserve millions of gallons of water per year,” noted David Gensterblum, Aqua-Chem president/ceo.

USGCC publishes new Sustainable Concrete Guide

The U.S. Green Concrete Council (USGCC) has released “The Sustainable Concrete Guide – Applications,” the companion resource to “The Sustainable Concrete Guide – Strategies and Examples.”

The guide provides readers with “specific sustainable benefits of concrete’s various applications to assist in selecting and specifying concrete materials and products to meet sustainability goals,” said guide author Andrea Schokker. Also included are tips and case studies on specifying concrete materials, construction for sustainability, integrating into sustainable structures, and navigating green codes and standards.

The guide is available for purchase through the American Concrete Institute for $85. For more information, visit www.concrete.org.

Green Matters is sponsored by:MAPEI