Universal Textile Technologies Inc. — a Dalton, Ga.-based manufacturer of high-performance backing
systems for carpet and synthetic turf — and Yellowstone National Park have entered into a recycling
partnership intended to reduce the amount of plastic bottles sent to landfills and help Yellowstone
meet its recycling goals while protecting and creating U.S. jobs.
The company will buy the plastic bottles collected by Yellowstone and convert them into a
nonwoven fleece material used to manufacture BioCel™ and EnviroCel™ sustainable backings for carpet
and synthetic turf. Most plastics collected in Yellowstone previously have been sold overseas,
where they have been used as raw material for the production of plastic products eventually sold in
the United States.
BioCel and EnviroCel utilize Celceram™, a highly refined material recovered from coal
combustion in electric utility power plants and then combined with soybean-based polyols derived
from domestically grown soybeans. The backings are certified under the U.S. Green Building
Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) program; and are
moisture-resistant, insulate against energy loss, reduce ambient noise and strengthen the
structural integrity of carpet and synthetic turf, according to Universal Textile Technologies.
“Yellowstone was created as the world’s first national park in 1872,” said Jim Evanoff, an
Environmental Protection Specialist with Yellowstone National Park. “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 dramatically
decreases the fuel and other resources used to transport materials around the planet.”
The Georgia Tech Research Institute has provided third-party verification for the recycling
project.
April 12, 2011
