Reuse programs for oil absorbents, shop towels,
and mops help our manufacturing customers achieve
Zero Waste to Landfill and ISO 14001 initiatives.
Waste Stream
Eliminate a
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Mike, Director of Operations
Jodi, Environmental Engineer
Dave, Regional Sales Manager
Clean absorbents and towels are delivered to your facility for reuse.
Soiled product goes into a drum for pick-up and laundering.
We utilize a state-of-the-art process to clean the absorbents and towels.
Recovered fluids are beneficially reused in industry.
Receive an annual waste certificate showing pounds of waste your company eliminated from landfill by using SorbIts® instead of disposables.
What is your laundering process?
Our state-of-the-art petroleum solvent dry cleaning operations are designed to clean our SorbIts® products, and water-sensitive materials such as leather gloves. We use petroleum solvent instead of the more common retail dry cleaning solvent called perchloroethylene. Perchloroethylene (also called PERC) is a colorless, nonflammable liquid commonly used in the dry cleaning industry that has been labeled by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a Group 2A carcinogen.
Soiled products are washed in 50 to 500 pound capacity washer-extractors. The machines remove the soil by agitating and dissolving it in solvent, much like paint thinner cleaning a paintbrush. This process is repeated several times. The product is centrifugally extracted a final time and then transferred to a solvent recovery dryer for drying. The dryer evaporates and recondenses the residual solvent, which is reused. The products are then inspected and delivered to the customers for reuse.
Where does the waste go?
Dirty solvent is processed for reuse on site. Soils that have been removed by the solvent are collected and concentrated in the still bottoms of distillation units (stills) as the solvent is recovered. The soils that came in on the various products are now recovered oil, ready for shipping by licensed transporters to a commodity broker for re-refining or for use as an industrial fuel.
How is the waste handled?
ITU AbsorbTech has an Environmental Management System designed to minimize our potential liabilities as well as those of our customers. This system includes audits of both the transporters and the facilities handling all of our processing by-products.
Most recovered liquids are handled by an outside environmental service company.
What happens to SorbIts® at end of life?
We strive to maximize the use of our products. Mats that no longer meet quality standards are cut down to smaller size mats or drum top liners and are also used for spill kit sock filling for a closed loop process. Quilted pads are cut down into smaller quilts or used for spill kit pillow filling.
Scraps that cannot be used for anything else are sent to our Neenah facility where they are accumulated to be recycled.
Do we need a waste profile or manifest?
No waste profile or manifest needed.
Are we liable for any of the waste?
Our high level of process control means you can have confidence that the soil in your laundry will not come back to haunt you as a future liability.
ITU AbsorbTech is recognized by federal, state and local agencies as being at the forefront of the laundry industry in environmental capabilities and is the recipient of many environmental awards.
Are you certified?
We operate in full compliance with environmental regulations. We are at the forefront in environmental capabilities and our facilities are registered to ISO 14001. Production employees are certified in production excellence through our AbsorbU™, our award-winning corporate training program.
