The all-new Chevrolet Volt is an ideal example of how General Motors is staking out a leadership position in the battle to protect the environment, and that includes efforts well beyond providing up to 50 miles of all-electric, emissions-free driving on a single charge of its batteries. For example, GM has developed a new process that will keep some 100,000 lbs. of oil-soaked plastic waste from the Gulf of Mexico out of America’s landfills and incinerators.
The material comes from approximately 100 miles of plastic booms that have been used to soak up excess oil in the Gulf along the coasts of Alabama and Louisiana, and goes through a four-step process overseen by four different GM partners:
* Heritage Environmental collects the material
* Mobile Fluid Recovery dries it and eliminates the absorbed oil and wastewater
* Lucent Polymers prepares the material for die-mold production
* GDC Inc. then uses a patented process to combine that material with other plastic compounds to help produce the actual components
The finished parts are used to assist with airflow around the Volt’s radiator and are made of 25 percent boom material, 25 percent recycled tires from GM testing facilities and 50 percent other post-consumer recycled plastic and polymers. GM is expecting to harvest enough boom material to use it on parts for other vehicles, too.
“Creative recycling is one extension of GM’s overall strategy to reduce its environmental impact,” said Mike Robinson, GM vice president of Environment, Energy and Safety Policy. “We reuse and recycle material by-products at our 76 landfill-free facilities every day. This is a good example of using this expertise and applying it to a greater magnitude.”
The material comes from approximately 100 miles of plastic booms that have been used to soak up excess oil in the Gulf along the coasts of Alabama and Louisiana, and goes through a four-step process overseen by four different GM partners:
* Heritage Environmental collects the material
* Mobile Fluid Recovery dries it and eliminates the absorbed oil and wastewater
* Lucent Polymers prepares the material for die-mold production
* GDC Inc. then uses a patented process to combine that material with other plastic compounds to help produce the actual components
The finished parts are used to assist with airflow around the Volt’s radiator and are made of 25 percent boom material, 25 percent recycled tires from GM testing facilities and 50 percent other post-consumer recycled plastic and polymers. GM is expecting to harvest enough boom material to use it on parts for other vehicles, too.
“Creative recycling is one extension of GM’s overall strategy to reduce its environmental impact,” said Mike Robinson, GM vice president of Environment, Energy and Safety Policy. “We reuse and recycle material by-products at our 76 landfill-free facilities every day. This is a good example of using this expertise and applying it to a greater magnitude.”
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