Recycling process of used oil booms

Across section of 1 THE SEPARATION PROCESS the inside of an On-site in Venice, La. (after completing a pilot program in Mobile), Heritage Environmental removed booms from the water and separated the hard containment booms from the soft, absorbent type. Only the soft ones, which are made from recyclable polypropylene, were used in the Volt. In all, GM processed 120,000 booms-1.2 million feet worth. absorbent boom. The polypropylene looks like cotton candy at this stage. 1] 2 SPIN CYCLE Next, also in Mobile and Venice, Mobile Fluid Recovery puts the booms in a high-speed centrifuge, which separates liquids-primarily saltwater and crude oil-from solid material. The centrifuge, slightly larger than a washing machine, is mounted on the back of a truck. 3 FROM COTTON CANDY TO POPCORN The centrifuged material, which is light and fluffy, is sent in trash bags to Lucent Polymers in Evansville, Ind. All of it-even the bags-goes into a vat for densification. It is melted down, chopped up, and emerges looking like popcorn. 4 POURED INTO THE MOLD In Goshen, Ind., car parts maker GDC compounds the material into a blend of boom, car tires, plastic scrap, and recycled bottles. It all goes into a mold to make the finished part: an air baffle that covers the Volt's radiator and keeps it cool.* 5 5 THE GULF SPILL-IN YOUR ELECTRIC CAR The air baffle, made of 25% gulf boom material, is sent to GM's Hamtramck Assembly Plant in Detroit, where it is fitted directly above and on either side of the radiator. GM says it has enough of the material to make parts for 10,000 Volts, the first year's total production run. * THE PART SHOWN ABOVEIS ONE OF FOUR PIECES THAT FORM THE AIR BAFFLE. ttttt