Nonmetallics

A pilot plant for vinyl recycling technologies has been built by 10 European manufacturers. The project is being funded for two years with $3 million contributed by members of the European Council of Vinyl Manufacturers (ECVM). The plant, scheduled to be completed this year, will be able to handle 2,000 tons of vinyl annually. A technology called Vinyloop™, for recycling vinyl compounds based products, uses a solvent to separate vinyl from other materials.

Japan has also developed a technology to recycle carpet panels and vinyl wallcovering. The recovered wallcovering is used to manufacture flooring and the carpet is recycled back into carpet.

REMOVING PVC FROM PET TO COME AT HIGH COST

A survey completed by the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR) has found the cost of removing postconsumer PVC bottles from the PET recycling stream to come at a high cost—an estimated $6.5 million for 1998.

“The last thing the industry needs is additional processing costs,” says Steve Babinchak, St. Jude Polymers, Frackville, Penn.

Data collected by the APA reflected capital costs in machinery, manual labor, sampling and testing and load rejection relating to PVC bottles in the PET recycling stream. “While the market size for PVC bottles in very small, even one PVC bottle in a bale of PET can cause problems,” says Phil Cavin of Mohawk Industries, Summerville, Ga.

MARTIN COLOR-FI FURTHERS REORGANIZATION PLANS

Martin Color-Fi Inc. (MCF), Edgefield, S.C., a producer of polyester fibers and pellets made from recycled plastic materials, has announced the completion of its acquisition by Dimeling, Schreiber & Park, a private investment partnership that specializes in leveraged acquisitions and other equity investments.The agreement states that MCF will retain its name and all current locations and maintain about 550 employees.

MCF filed for Chapter 11 protection in November 1998. “We have streamlined operations and made our processes more efficient,” says Steve Zagorski, CEO and president. “Our productivity has improved as we continue to focus on the needs of our customers.”