DALTON, GA.—At Yellowstone National Park, another sight that’s as predictable as the park’s famous Old Faithful Geyser are recycling bins stuffed with food wrappers, plastic bottles, and other items generated by the park’s 3.5 million annual visitors. In recent years, Yellowstone Park has been a leader in recycling innovation with programs that have significantly reduced the park’s dependency on area landfills. A new and unique recycling partnership, forged with Universal Textile Technologies, Four Corners Recycling, CPE, Inc. and the United Soybean Board (USB), will reduce and ensure the reuse of the amount of plastic bottles that go into landfills, create and protect jobs for the American workforce and help Yellowstone National Park meet its recycling goals.
Universal Textile has committed to purchase the recyclable plastic bottles Yellowstone collects each year and convert them into a non-woven fleece material that is used to manufacture high-performance backing for carpet and select synthetic turf products. This process will promote the reuse of discarded plastic bottles, while demonstrating the unlimited potential organizations can realize when they work towards a common goal. The Georgia Tech Research Institute has provided third-party verification for this. USB helped forge the partnership through its longstanding relationships with both Universal and Yellowstone National Park. Universal is a leader in the use of soy to reduce the petroleum content in its backing. Yellowstone is a nationally recognized leader in the use of bio-based products as well as recycling.
Like many recyclable materials collected in America, most of the plastics collected in Yellowstone had previously been sold overseas, where they were used to produce plastic products that were later sold in the United States. “Yellowstone was created as the world’s first national park in 1872,” stated Jim Evanoff, a speaker on the Yellowstone Ecosystem, an Environmental Protection Specialist with Yellowstone National Park and instrumental in the implementation of this new program. “We have an obligation to set the example for promoting sound environmental stewardship practices that will serve as a model for future generations. This new partnership not only diverts plastics from landfills, it protects and creates U.S. jobs and dramatically decreases the fuel and other resources used to transport materials around the planet.”
Bottles Used for BioCel, EnviroCel
Universal Textile incorporates the use of recycled bottles to manufacture BioCel and EnviroCel environmentally friendly polyurethane backing systems for carpet and synthetic turf. Both BioCel and EnviroCel utilize recycled plastic bottles combined with naturally renewable soybean-based polyols, derived from domestically grown soybeans. The use of soy-based products helps to support the U.S. economy, create American jobs and is another way Universal Textile products contribute money back into the U.S. economy. Universal Textile is a member of the Biobased Products Coalition.
The partnership represents a model system that can help increase the demand for recycled content in American-made products. For example, Yellowstone will have the ability to purchase carpets featuring recycled content from the park combined with Universal’s soy-based polyol technology, bringing the recycle story full circle.
“We are told on average three or four bottles out of 10 are recycled in America today,” said Doug Giles, director of marketing for Universal Textile Technologies. “Our objective is to increase the number of bottles recycled. We believe this amazing program will increase awareness of the many opportunities for Americans to participate. We ask you to recycle your plastic, by doing so you will help our great country, additionally creating jobs and growing our economy. These benefits will be shared by everyone for generations to come. If we don’t address these issues today our children and grandchildren will certainly be forced to. We are excited to be a part of Project Yellowstone and are looking forward to working with the National Park Service.”
