BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTS

In Business, May-June, 2006, Vol. 28, No. 3, p. 8

RECYCLED PLASTICS FIRM EXPANDS
WITH LINE OF TABLEWARE AND CUPS
Offering alternatives to disposable plates, cups and utensils, a company-based in Waltham, Massachusetts - Recycline, Inc. - is turning recycled plastics into Preservey Tableware, Tumblers,

Plateware and Cutlery. The line is offered in two colors (pear green and ocean teal), retails at $5.50 for a ten pack of tumblers with large plates at $7 for an eight-pack. Eric Hudson founded the company in 1996. “Sourcing recycled plastics for consumer products instead of using virgin resources reduces energy consumption, conserves natural resources, avoids landfill waste, and reduces dependence on foreign fuels,” sums up Hudson, Recycline's president and CEO. Like its toothbrush and razor line, the tableware collection is made from 100 percent recycled polypropylene plastic.
Recycline's products are sold in more than 3,000 natural food stores and supermarkets nationwide. To learn more about the brand, visit www.recycline.com.

PLANT THAT HAD BREWED BEER
NOW FOCUSES ON ETHANOL
New York State Governor George Pataki is intent on making his state the vanguard of ethanol production (and homegrown fuel) in the Northeast, and an old Miller Brewing plant in Fulton, New York is converting its kettles and fermentation tanks to help make it happen. “Every vessel is going to be reused,” engineering director Rick O'Shea told the New York Times last month in a report on how the 420-acre complex would churn out biofuel in the vats that once brewed Miller Lite. New environmental regulations are causing a rapid rise in demand for ethanol to replace MTBE, a gasoline additive linked to groundwater contamination. Writes the Times:
“New York is investing millions of dollars in research on corn-free ethanol. The State University of New York seeks to produce ethanol using chips from willow trees. 'We pull out the things that are normally thrown away by a pulp and paper mill,' says Neil Murphy, president of SUNY's College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse. The goal is to use the willow chips to make paper (at an International Paper plant in Ticonderoga) and ship a syrup by-product to Fulton, where it can be brewed into ethanol, also known as grain alcohol.
“The owners of the plant, a local company called Northeast Biofuels, plan to start by producing corn-based ethanol at the beginning of 2008, later getting into wood chips. They formed a partnership with an established Canadian ethanol producer, Permolex, and received a $3 million loan from the pension funds of two union locals in the Syracuse region.
“There are already more than four million cars and trucks on the road that have the option of running on a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, known as E85, but only about 500 gas stations in the nation sell it. Now Gov. Pataki - whose government-issued Chevrolet Suburban runs on E85 - has an initiative to bring ethanol and other alternative fuels to service stations this year. His budget includes $20 million for production of noncorn-based ethanol.”

MAKING COLORFUL TOTES FROM DISCARDED BURLAP BAGS
“Our goal is to remanufacture products from all leftover burlap coffee bean bags in Oregon and Washington,” says James Brannaman of the Arc of Multnomah Clackamas in Portland. His nonprofit organization also promotes employment for disabled workers by providing opportunities for persons with developmental disabilities. Continues Brannaman: “We've been able to reprocess over 60 tons of burlap coffee bean bags from local coffee roasters, while creating economically viable employment. The used burlap is picked up by our trucks from roasting locations and then converted by our sheltered workshops into reusable shopping tote bags and other environmentally sustainable products.”
Some burlap material becomes green “branding opportunities” for companies (convention bags, gift bags, etc.) Other uses are as a natural weed barrier at local vineyards instead of plastic or straw; mulch fiber for hydroseeding; storm water mitigation devices for the city. Totes are sturdy, and 100 percent biodegradable. Visit www.thearcmult.org.

ECONOMICS, TECHNOLOGY AND DEMAND
IMPROVE MARKETS FOR BIOMASS CONVERSION
For 2006, the Energy Information Administration forecasts that commercial natural gas prices in the Midwest will range from $11.56 to $13.31 per thousand cubic feet. At those prices, manufacturing gas from renewable biomass is cheaper than burning natural gas, says Cecil Massie, renewable energy systems expert at Sebesta Blomberg of Roseville, Minnesota.
Last year, the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI) and Sebasta Blomberg helped the city of Morris project costs of a municipal gas utility that would produce methane from corn stover gasification for use by the local ethanol plant and other industries.
Biomass gasification is best suited for relatively small power systems since biomass is bulky and widely dispersed. “It's not economical to haul biomass more than about 20 miles,” explains Massie. Small gasification plants could be customized to use whatever biomass was available, and power could be consumed on-site. Where you really gain an advantage is when you have a manufacturer that produces its own biomass waste stream - especially if it costs money to dispose of the waste, points out a University of North Dakota professor. Biomass gasification has great potential “for every one of Minnesota's ag processing plants,” sums up Massie. Such materials include vegetable processing residues, mill waste, soybean hulls and distiller's grains. “In the next few years, biomass gasification technology will come into its own, and you'll see lots of demonstration plants in place,” predicts Darren Schmidt of the University of North Dakota's Energy & Environmental Research Center.
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that at least 500 million dry tons of biomass are now available annually in this country. American agriculture generates nearly half that amount, with the wood and forest industries adding another third. Major biomass resources include: Crop residues - 24 percent; Municipal solid waste - 21 percent; Animal manure - 18 percent; Mill waste - 16 percent; Forest, urban and industrial wood waste - 14 percent. The federal government has set a goal of developing a biomass collection industry capable of delivering one billion metric tons of biomass fuel a year by 2050. Near-term target is 150 million metric tons a year by 2010, at a price of $30 per ton or less.

PLASTIC CARDS ARE NOW MADE WITH CORN-BASED PLASTIC
A firm called Arthur Blank & Co. has come up with a way to use corn as an alternative to traditional petroleum-based plastic cards, writes Resource, published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. “CornCard USA is identical to traditional plastic cards in look, feel and durability ... for uses such as gift, debit, membership and identification cards.” Notes Eric Blank, executive vp: “If you compared bushels of corn to barrels of oil over the past five years, crude oil prices have skyrocketed, while U.S. corn supplies and prices have remained relatively constant.” For further details, visit www.arthurblank.com.

LATE-BREAKING NEWS ON THE REINVENTION
OF MUNICIPAL RECYCLING IN AMERICA
In the October 2005 issue of BioCycle (p. 22), David Biddle described how Patrick FitzGerald and Ron Gonen launched RecycleBank, LLC in early 2004. The company charges municipalities or private haulers $24/month per household; participating households get a similar value in coupons that are redeemable at companies like Starbucks, Home Depot, Coca Cola, etc. A firm called Cascade Engineering in Grand Rapids, Michigan has supplied carts with radio frequency identification tags (RFID). The LTS Scale Corporation of Twinsburg, Ohio configured scales and a tipping mechanism for the containers, which fit on the back of trucks so the bins can be weighed and easily emptied. Wrote Biddle: “All of these relationships give FitzGerald and Gonen a competitive edge … about the service they have to offer.”
In late February, an update in The New York Times provided these details: Several municipalities in the mid-Atlantic and New England regions are interested in starting RecycleBank programs. Wilmington, Delaware began with 4,000 households. Casella Waste Systems in Rutland, Vermont will introduce the program to 100,000 households next year.

PAPER MILL USES SYSTEM TO PRODUCE
STEAM AND ELECTRICITY
Using a process developed by Minergy Corp., about 10,000 tons of paper sludge are creating steam, electricity and glass aggregate. The steam will be used also to dry paper and heat the mill. Explains Minergy's General Manager Terry Carroll: Solids are melted in a furnace, leaving mineral components that are used in different applications. Liquid glass is used in asphalt, floor tiles, abrasives, roof shingles and landscaping materials. “Heat is recovered in a generator and powers a turbine generator which yields electricity.” According to Minergy, its plant recycles 350,000 tons of wastewater solids/year. In addition, more than 300,000 tons of glass aggregate have been used locally.

Copyright 2007, The JG Press, Inc.