"Eight (8%) percent of all oil used or output worldwide is used in creating plastic, 4% as inputs and 4% in energy to create it," commented Todd Makurah of Envion, an energy and recycling firm based in Maryland.
According to the Pickens Plan CLICK HERE FOR PICKENS PLAN INFO, the U.S. imported 4.35 billion barrels of oil in 2009, 63% of which was from foreign sources. The U.S. sent around $265 billion or approximately $22 billion per month overseas for these purchases.
So, if we do a rough, back of the envelope calculation, the amount of oil used to create plastics EACH MONTH is $352 million. This stored oil in the form of plastic is still being discarded in landfills at an alarming rate. Through Envion's proprietary technology, one ton of waste plastic can be converted into approximately four 42-gallon barrels of high quality, synthetic light to medium oil. This oil is a refined and 99% sediment free product that can be used to produce gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel or kerosene after blending.
Envion Inc, an acronym for "environmental vision" was founded by Michael S. Han and in January 2004 and now includes executives such as the fomer U.S. Secretary of Defense, Frank C. Carlucci who serves as the Chairman Emeritus and Senior Advisor of Envion Inc.
At the center of Envion's strategy and technology is The Envion Oil Generator(TM). It provides "a revolutionary solution to the problem of plastic waste by transforming it from an environmental hazard into a sustainable, renewable energy source," said Han. "The market for our technology is vast, and it provides municipalities with a solution that cuts costs," said Envion Chairman and CEO Michael S. Han in a Sept 16, 2009 Washington Post article.
Since September, the company has renewed its agreement with the Montgomery County (Maryland) Solid Waste Transfer Station in Derwood, Maryland to keep its pilot installation in operation there. The company is having an independent engineering analysis completed prior to launching their technology into the public market. This helps to speed up things for regulators and is usually a requirement for investment bankers, prior to their investing in the project. Wall Street, stay tuned on this! Han, a former Investment Banker at Lehman Brothers has the industry connections to make this happen.
Some municipalities have looked to incinerators to help solve their waste disposal issues, with Harrisburg being one of the most visible. With $288 million in debt the City has been on the verge of bankruptcy. For more on the Incinerataor Click here. Incinerator Debt
In the meantime,and with wider applications and markets, traditional incinerators, continue to meet the very diverse needs of municipal applications and many others. PennRam Manufacturing of Williamsport provides solutions that meet not only municipal recycling requirements, but also: hospitals, bio-medical, waste oil and crematories, to name a few.
An installation similiar to the one Montgomery Count, MD, will be able process up to 10,000 tons of plastic waste annually, generating as much as 50,000 barrels of oil. With full national deployment, the Envion Oil Generator(TM) could generate over 150,000,000 barrels of oil each year in the United States alone. At $50/barrel, that is $7.5 billion dollars and at $75/ballel, that is $11.25 billion. Additionally, the EOG is capable of processing all types of plastic waste, thus reducing the time and cost of sorting plastic by type.
Envion's innovative technology provides a solution that has the potential to remove the majority of plastic waste from landfills, freeing up a quarter of the capacity that plastic currently occupies. The United States produces approximately 50 million tons of plastic waste per year. With the ability of a single EOG to eliminate 10,000 tons of plastic per year, at a cost of $17 per ton. Additionally, according to the EPA, recycling programs process only 6.8% of plastic waste and are also not as cost effective: disposing of plastic in a landfill costs $70-$200/ton and recycling costs $150-$200/ton,
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