Recycle, Reclaim, Reuse
Posted on Fri, Aug 14, 2009 @ 08:34 AM
By Aram Jeknavorian, Industrial Account Manager
Traditionally fuel blending has been the most cost effective way to treat solvent wastes, but within the last few years recycling has outperformed this technique. Environmental awareness has spread to organizations large and small, creating a mass of businesses that are now making environmentally conscious decisions.
The most considerable buzz surrounding environmental business decisions is the reduction of their personal carbon footprint. Many companies have taken a sincere interest in reducing their carbon footprint. It is evident during the current economic period that some businesses have been choosing what is most cost effective over the best environmental decisions because they feel that they cannot have both, viewing recycling as higher costs. What some businesses are unaware of is that you can have both. Recycling is not a new method but the processes that are being used now are much more efficient at being able to separate out the materials and that has allowed consumers to both reduce their carbon footprint and the decrease their solvent waste costs.
If companies have looked into recycling in the past and have found their materials to be incompatible it is now time to revisit the recycling option. Solvent wastes that where once too heavy in solids (such as resin) for recycling might now be able to be processed. Depending on the constituency and purity of the solvent waste, the process of recycling can save between 20-30% over fuel blending. This significant percentage is changing the way companies are deciding to treat their solvent waste, as well as the decrease the carbon footprint.