Reclaim industry

Because of the increased use of synthetic materials in making new tires after World War n, the reclaim industry has dramatically decreased in size. During World War n, about 60 percent of the rubber in tires was reclaimed rubber. Each of the major tire manufacturers has discontinued operating reclaim plants in the last 8 to 10 years, until now only about one to 2 percent of the raw material for tires is reclaim. There are currently only two companies that produce reclaim rubber, i.e., partially-devulcanized rubber, from whole tires for use in tires and other rubber products. These companies are Midwest Rubber Reclaiming Co. in East St. Louis, Illinois and Rouse Rubber, Inc., in Vicksburg, Mississippi (22). 

In 1987, the equivalent of 3.4 million tires were consumed for reclaim rubber. By 1989 this figure had declined to 2.9 million tires (23). The reclaim industry s production capacity is estimated to be between 100 and 144 million pounds per year, (5 to 7 million tires per year), indicating a capacity of utilization of about 40 to 60 percent, due to limited market demand. The Department of Commerce is no longer updating its reclaim rubber production figures yearly. It is estimated that production remained 2.9 million tires or less in 1990. 

Reclaim industrial wastewaters for Reuse within industrial plant Zero discharge... 

The reclaiming industry in 1974 was in an era of decline that started about 1960. Total production of reclaim, usage of installed reclaiming capacity, and proportion reclaimed of the available scrap all fell during this period. 

By the mid-1980s, the commercial use of recycled rubber that had been produced by the traditional methods of reclaiming was extremely small, and reclaimed rubber represented less than 1 % of worldwide rubber consumption. The effect that new environmental regulations had had on the reclaim industry was a major contributor to this decline [1]. 

Because about 80% of the lead consumed in the United States is for use in lead—acid batteries, most recycled lead derives from this source of scrap. More than 95% of the lead is reclaimed. Hence, the bulk of the recycling industry is centered on the processing of lead battery scrap. 

A proprietary form of Caro s acid is sold to the electronics iadustry under the trade name Nanostrip. Used for reclaiming defective siHcon wafers, it is manufactured by Cyantech (United States), Micro-Image Technology (UK), and RASA Industries (Japan). 

Scrap that is unsuitable for recycling into products by the primary aluminum producers is used in the secondary aluminum industry for castings that have modest property requirements. Oxide formation and dross buildup are encountered in the secondary aluminum industry, and fluxes are employed to assist in the collection of dross and removal of inclusions and gas. Such fluxes are usually mixtures of sodium and potassium chlorides. Fumes and residues from these fluxes and treatment of dross are problems of environmental and economic importance, and efforts are made to reclaim both flux and metal values in the dross. 

Although more often associated with household and commercial waste, recycling has proven to be very successhil in the industrial arena. Industrial recycling is the recovery for reuse or sale of materials from what otherwise would be wastes destined for disposal (5). Typically, the reclaimable materials employed in industrial recycling may consist of obsolete products, spent materials, industrial by-products or residues, or pollution control products. The recycling of many of these products is so well estabHshed that under standard commercial practices such materials are destined only for recovery, not for disposal. 

Because of increasing environmental concerns, the disposal of all batteries is being reviewed (70—76). Traditionally silver batteries were reclaimed for the silver metal and all other alkaline batteries were disposed of in landfills or incinerators. Some aircraft and industrial nickel —cadmium batteries are rebuilt to utilize the valuable components. 

To reduce or eliminate the scattering of cadmium in the environment, the disposal of nickel —cadmium batteries is under study. Already a large share of industrial batteries are being reclaimed for the value of their materials. Voluntary battery collection and reclaiming efforts are under way in both Europe and Japan. However the collection of small batteries is not without difficulties. Consideration is being given to deposit approaches to motivate battery returns for collection and reclamation. 

In 1863, the British Parliament passed the Alkali Act, which forced the LeBlanc factories to reclaim 95 percent of the hydrochloric acid gas that they produced. Angus Smith, the Alkali Inspector assigned to enforce the law, demonstrated that industrial towns suffered from higher sulfate levels than did the countryside. When Angus Smith also coined the term acid rain, air pollution became a public issue. By the 1870s, Leblanc factories emitted less than 0.1 percent of the hydrochloric acid gas they produced the rest was reclaimed and sold. 

California Steel Industries, Inc., located in Fontana, CA, reclaimed wastes to increase profits and address water use issues. The facility, a steel mill, is situated in an area that does not have a ready supply of process water. Also, the offsite recycling facility used to dispose of spent process pickle liquor was soon to become unavailable. As a result of these concerns, the company constructed an onsite recycling facility designed to recover ferrous chloride for resale and to reuse water and hydrogen chloride for use in steel processing operations. Environmental benefits include the recovery and resale of 20 to 25 t/d of ferrous chloride, 13,440 L/d of hydrogen chloride, and 49,200 L/d of water. In addition, corporate liability was minimized because spent liquor was no longer sent to a disposal facility. 

Industrial ethyl alcohol Industrial ethyl alcohol that is reclaimed is exempt from RCRA Subtitle C because the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) already regulates it from the point of generation to redistillation. 

The pulp and paper industry generates hazardous wastes, but most are associated with wastewater, which is rendered nonhazardous in wastewater treatment or neutralization units within the manufacturing facilities and therefore is not subject to RCRA requirements. Also, black liquor is exempt as a solid waste if it is reclaimed in a recovery furnace and reused in the pulping process. 

In contrast, PET end-use markets have been developing for at least 10 years. When the PET bottle was introduced in 1978 and was collected in states with deposit laws, the industry for recycling them and reusing them began to develop. PET resins can be reused to make polyols for insulation and unsaturated resins for bathtubs, shower stalls, boat hulls, and auto panels. Reclaimed PET is also used for strapping, paint brushes, geotextiles, fibers for fiberfill and carpets, and other textile applications. 

---