Ashley Industrial Molding, Ashley, Ind., has received an Innovations Grant of $24,000 from the state of Indiana’s Department of Commerce, Office of Energy and Recycling. The grant money will be used to study the possibility of recycling fiberglass composite material into asphalt. The study will focus on researching and testing the use of sheet molding compound as a slag substitute in asphalt production. The study will include market and financial feasibility studies relating to the collection and recycling of SMC.
“Recycling and reuse is a vital segment of our economy and the impact of projects such as this will resonate into future generations,” said Joe Kernan, director of the state’s Department of Commerce. “The research that Ashley conducts because of this grant will bring them closer to production and further from pollution.”
Sheet molding compound (SMC) manufacturers, including Ashley Industrial Molding, located in Ashley, Ind., produce scrap from their production processes that currently goes to landfills. While producers have worked hard to reduce the overall amount of scrap they generate, Ashley estimates that it’s losing thousands of dollars per year on SMC waste.
Ashley’s SMC scrap cannot currently be recycled back into the manufacturing process, but the company is seeking ways to improve its environmental citizenship, reduce its disposal costs and ultimately produce a viable end use for SMC scrap. The company will work with Heritage Research Group and an asphalt producer to test the use of SMC in asphalt and determine the financial feasibility of this use.
Partnering with other SMC producers in the area, Ashley hopes to expand the scope of the project. If the testing of SMC use in asphalt produces positive results, Ashley will then examine how to best create a collection and processing infrastructure. The company hopes this project will result in the ability to recycle 100 percent of its SMC scrap, as well as most scrap produced by other area SMC producers.