Paint makes cars, appliances and other products attractive, but paint also generates waste. This waste must be collected, stored, transported, analyzed and legally disposed of. There is an alternative, however, recycling.
Environmental Purification Industries recycles more than 10,000 tons of waste annually. The recycling processes it uses are approved by the EPA for paint waste recycling. The processes are the DryPure™ System and the Polymeric Recovery System, a new technology.
Before waste is accepted, generators must provide an eight-oz sample and a paint waste profile. Technicians test the sample, review the profile and conduct a metals analysis to determine if the material can be processed. Once approved, shipments are off loaded into a hopper for transfer to one of the two recycling systems.
The new technology, Polymeric Recovery System (PRS) handles waste once considered non-recyclable, such as epoxy resins, latex paints and inks. These can be processed and reused by the same industries that produced them.
For example, the paint on a car contains components similar to those in underbody sealants. Using a low-heat process, the PRS recaptures these resins.
First, a quality analysis is performed to determine what additives need to be introduced into the sludge to control its final physical properties. The mixture is pumped into a reactor and processed for several hours under vacuum and low heat, less than 300F. All vapors and liquids are removed and condensed.
The dehydrated, gray, putty-like material left behind is pumped from the reactor and tested for quality assurance. This uncured resin is finally formed into 30 lb units for packaging.
The final product, EPI-MERTM is sold back to the industry that created it for use in caulks, adhesives, rubber compounds and the sealants that undercoat cars.
The company provides a Recycling Certificate that guarantees that the waste delivered was recycled into a safe, useful product.
Source: Environmental Purification Industries, Inc., Toledo, Ohio.