District Pilots Affordable Styrofoam Recycling
Last updated Tuesday, October 10, 2006 10:46 PM CDT in News
By Michelle Burhenn
BENTONVILLE -- A Bentonville man says he's found a way to cheaply recycle a material that is languishing in landfills.
Sean Stephan said he discovered a way to break down polystyrene, often known as Styrofoam, and most commonly used as drinking cups and packing material. He developed Hydro-Sol, a water-based concentrate that breaks down the material and extracts reusable polymer.
Stephan has applied for a patent and donated his formula to Advanced Environmental Technologies of Rogers. Joshua Hutchinson, president of the company, and Stephan are working with the Benton County Regional Solid Waste Management District on a pilot program to test the product.
Stephan and Hutchinson demonstrated the product Tuesday at the Benton County Recycling Center to community and state leaders, including Marcus Devine, director of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.
Americans throw away about 1,369 tons of polystyrene a year and the material makes up between 25 and 35 percent of all landfill space, according to a Advanced Environmental Technologies release. Researchers estimate it takes 500 years to start breaking down the material.
Others have developed ways to recycle polystyrene, Stephan said, but they have yet to take off because they are too costly. Sony Corp. recycles the material for reuse as packing material, Stephan said.
"They spend money to get it back," he said. "All we are doing is spending money on the chemistry to get it back."
Stephan said his invention does not use any costly energy or equipment and is environmentally friendly. Hydro-Sol uses gravity to separate and extract polymer. The concentrate, which is made of water and bio-based chemicals, is clear and has a citrus smell.
Michelle Gillham, a recycling coordinator at the state's Department of Environmental Quality, said other recycling methods have not taken off because of cost and lack of benefit. She said Hydro-Sol looks promising because the material it produces appears easy to reuse.
An industrial engineer for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Stephan said he stumbled on the idea when looking for a cheap polymer source. During his graduate studies, he had extracted material from DNA and thought the same method might work for polystyrene.
"I thought, 'It's the same thing,'" he said. "Ding! It dawned on me."
He first approached Wal-Mart to test his idea. When Wal-Mart did not show interest, he approached Hutchinson, who is a friend from church.
Wendy Eckman, Benton County deputy director of the solid waste district, said the county had spent about $700 to participate in the pilot program, which included buying a supply of concentrate for $650 that will last several months. She said the county is essentially a guinea pig for the product; but, if all goes well, the county will begin offering the recycling service and likely add a staff person to handle the program. She said she expects that it will be offered to residents for free and to businesses for a small fee.
The county would use the polymer for road projects. Polymer has a binding quality that makes it useful in asphalt and concrete as a filler that will allow flexibility in extreme temperatures instead of cracking.
The county and Stephan are also talking about a landfill project. Even spraying Hydro-Sol on polystyrene helps break it down, he said as he demonstrated by spraying the liquid from a water bottle into an aquarium filled with polystyrene and dirt.
"The technology is out there," Stephan said. "For most people it's just the cost."
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Dan Roberts wrote on Jan 29, 2007 1:52 PM: