MIDLAND, Mich., Nov. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In
collaboration with Meijer, Dow (NYSE: DOW) enabled a new paving
technique using recycled plastic bags to create a more durable
parking lot for the retailer's Holland,
Mich. supercenter. This recycled polymer modified asphalt
(RPMA) parking lot is a three-phase pilot project that used
approximately 12,500 pounds of post-consumer recycled plastic
(PCR), which is the equivalent weight of 944,000 plastic grocery
bags.
This project brings recycled plastic bags full circle, and also
represents a long-term collaboration between two Michigan companies working toward a more
sustainable future.
"Meijer operates under the philosophy that to be a good company,
we must be a good neighbor and that often means working with other
likeminded companies on a common goal," said Rick Keyes, President & CEO of Meijer. "We
are committed to lessening our impact on the environment and are
pleased to partner with our customers and Dow in the largest
in-state project of this kind to better demonstrate our commitment
to a circular economy through recycling and reusing plastic to
better ensure a more sustainable future."
All of the recycled plastic used for the parking lot pilot
project was deposited by Meijer customers through the retailer's
in-store plastic film recycling program. In 2014, Meijer placed a
collection bin inside the front entrances of each of its stores for
customers to deposit clean, dry plastic bags and films, including
single use, bread, dry cleaning, produce and water softener bags.
This year, Meijer expects to recycle 6 million pounds of plastics
through this program.
"Lessening our impact on the environment through increased
recycling efforts is an issue that's important to us, which is why
we believe this pilot project is just one of the ways we can bring
our current recycling efforts full circle while improving our
customer shopping experience," said Vik
Srinivasan, Senior Vice President of Properties and Real
Estate at Meijer.
Powered by ELVALOY™ Reactive Elastomeric Terpolymer
(RET) technology from Dow, these RPMA projects have increased
durability versus unmodified asphalt.
"This is an exciting partnership from start to finish and a
perfect example of how the plastics used to keep food safe and
fresh, like bread bags, can have a new life as infrastructure like
a parking lot," said CJ DuBois, North American Paving Application
Development Leader, Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics. "Our
collaboration with Meijer began two years ago. This RPMA parking
lot made with recycled content and our ELVALOY™ RET is just one
example of how we're continually creating new technologies and
initiatives to transform used plastics into functional and valuable
solutions."
This pilot project incorporated numerous partners to take the
recycled plastics and turn them into a resurfaced parking lot.
PADNOS, a materials recycler, aggregated the Meijer recycled
plastics, and converted them into usable PCR content. K-Tech
Specialty Coatings, an asphalt emulsion company, modified the base
asphalt binder with ELVALOY™ RET and PCR content. Rieth-Riley, the
construction contractor, produced the final hot-mix asphalt and
paved the Meijer parking lot and gas station.
The pilot parking lot project with Meijer isn't a first for Dow.
The company began working on these projects in Indonesia in 2017, partnering with the
Indonesian government towards its goal of reducing plastic waste in
the ocean by 70 percent by 2025. In August
2021, Dow completed a RPMA public street at The
University of Missouri. Prior to this,
Dow completed two RPMA roads at Dow's Freeport, Texas site, two roads at the Dow
Sabine River Operations where ELVALOY™ RET is produced and four
public roads and two parking lots in the Great Lakes Bay Region of
Michigan – totaling approximately
14,000 pounds or more than 1 million plastic bags. These RPMA
projects are just a sample of efforts helping Dow reach its 2030
target to enable 1 million metric tons of plastic to be collected,
reused or recycled through its direct actions and partnerships.
B-Roll footage from the project is located online:
https://dow.cimediacloud.com/r/tjhpD6Hyuupe
About Meijer
Meijer is a Grand Rapids,
Mich.-based retailer that operates 258 supercenters and grocery
stores throughout Michigan,
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin. A privately-owned and
family-operated company since 1934, Meijer pioneered the "one-stop
shopping" concept and has evolved through the years to include
expanded fresh produce and meat departments, as well as pharmacies,
comprehensive apparel departments, pet departments, garden centers,
toys and electronics. For additional information on Meijer, please
visit www.meijer.com. Follow Meijer on
Twitter @twitter.com/Meijer and @twitter.com/MeijerPR or
become a fan at www.facebook.com/meijer.
About Dow
Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines global breadth,
asset integration and scale, focused innovation and leading
business positions to achieve profitable growth. The Company's
ambition is to become the most innovative, customer centric,
inclusive and sustainable materials science company, with a purpose
to deliver a sustainable future for the world through our materials
science expertise and collaboration with our partners. Dow's
portfolio of plastics, industrial intermediates, coatings and
silicones businesses delivers a broad range of differentiated
science-based products and solutions for its customers in
high-growth market segments, such as packaging, infrastructure,
mobility and consumer care. Dow operates 106 manufacturing sites in
31 countries and employs approximately 35,700 people. Dow delivered
sales of approximately $39 billion in
2020. References to Dow or the Company mean Dow Inc. and its
subsidiaries. For more information, please visit
www.dow.com or follow @DowNewsroom on Twitter.
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