Business
Shaw, DAK to build recycling plant
Dalton-based Shaw Industries Group, Inc. and DAK Americas, LLC have created a new joint venture company, Clear Path Recycling, LLC, to produce Recycled PET (RPET) from post-consumer PET bottles. Shaw, the world’s largest carpet manufacturer, and DAK, the second largest PET Resin and largest Polyester Staple Fiber producer in the Americas, will both use the RPET material as a feedstock to enhance the value and sustainability of their individual offerings. Shaw is the initial majority partner in Clear Path Recycling, LLC.
Clear Path Recycling, LLC plans to build a facility to recycle more than 280 million pounds annually of PET bottles, or about 5 billion bottles. The first phase of the new facility will process 160 million pounds of PET bottles; construction is expected to begin in mid 2009, with the plant operational in the first quarter 2010. A second phase, planned for completion in 2012, will bring the operation to capacity at 280 million pounds, making Clear Path Recycling, LLC the largest PET recycling operation in North America. The RPET material will primarily be used by Shaw and DAK in their polyester based products. An estimated 25 percent of the total recycled material produced will be sold through merchant sales.
“This joint venture investment represents an important strategic benefit to Shaw’s PET filament product lines,” said Vance Bell, chief executive officer of Shaw. “The recycled content manufactured in this facility, combined with Shaw’s patent-pending BCF manufacturing process, will allow us to significantly enhance and expand our innovative Clear Touch BCF family of products. This venture will contribute toward the company’s 25 percent energy intensity reduction pledge announced in 2008, as the use of recycled PET containers employs less energy compared to the production of virgin materials.”
“Clear Path Recycling is a major milestone in the sustainability initiatives of DAK Americas and reinforces DAK’s commitment to protect the environment for future generations,” said Hector Camberos, president and CEO of DAK Americas. “The JV allows DAK to deliver on the growing requirements of both its PET Resin and Polyester Staple Fiber customer base for products with recycled content.
This joint venture will reduce the use of landfills and improve internal process economics for Shaw and DAK. By recycling 280 million pounds of PET bottles, more than 1 million cubic yards per year of landfill space will be conserved. The energy savings related to the Clear Path Recycling, LLC operation will save approximately 2.5 trillion BTUs of energy annually, which is equal to the amount of primary energy necessary to power 18,000 U.S. homes per year, according to Energy Information Administration data.
Clear Path Recycling will construct its facility in Fayetteville, N.C. at the DAK Americas’ Cedar Creek Site. DAK currently operates a PET resin manufacturing facility on-site and has significant infrastructure in place that the new JV will utilize. Approximately 100 new jobs will be created at the facility at the completion of both phases.
Shaw uses RPET product in other areas of its business as well, most notably in its EcoLogix commercial carpet cushion system, a technology it introduced in 2003 that contains 88 percent post consumer recycled content.
- Business
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