Category News

Repurpose is just the same as recycle. Right?

We not only collect plastic from our recycling partners, we also collect geotextile underlay that is not recyclable in conventional terms. To ensure that it stays out of the landfills we developed a repurpose program that offers the geo for free to farmers, landscapers and land developers.

Over the last 2 years, the program has successfully kept over 250,000 pounds of usable geotextile out of the land fill. Recently, the volumes of this material have increased, and we need to find a good home for it!

The underlay has only been used once and is in great shape. It’s clean other than some dirt here and there. No contaminants. We have it ready to ship from our yards in Grande Prairie and Edson. We are offering the material at no cost, and can discuss delivery options as well.

If you can use this geotextile underlay, please contact Mike at: 587-439-8858

Are you watching the Olympics this year? Have you ever thought about what the medals are made of?

In an effort to “create a lasting legacy and contribute to an environmentally friendly and sustainable society,” this year’s Tokyo Organizing Committee opted to make the gold, silver & bronze medals out of recycled electronics!

To learn more about this sustainable effort, click here: https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gear/a28509493/tokyo-2020-olympic-medals-recycled-gadgets/

Go Canada Go!

Do you wonder what is made from the material we collect and recycle? Let us explain!

The recycling process is:

♻️ Shred bulk into smaller more manageable pieces

♻️ Clean material of contaminants

♻️ Process clean sched into flakes

♻️ Process flake into pellets

The bulk of the plastic is LLDPE, and the finished LLDPE pellets are sold to manufacturers that extrude a finished product. Recycled LLDPE pellets are usually mixed with virgin resign to create a hybrid pellet.

Then, the majority of the finished hybrid pellets are used as feedstock for landscape edging sold in stores such as Home Depot and Lowes!

A special thank you to all of our E & P and Water Management industry partners for their support!

Did you know that there is actually a shortage of sand in the world? Tough to comprehend for many, but as with any other overconsumption of a natural resource, we need to look for solutions.

This article explains how plastic can be used in place of sand. The research has found that plastic waste can be sorted, cleaned, shredded and crushed into a sand alternative for use in concrete.

Read here for more insightful details about this initiative:

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-57832425

It is one thing to say that you are recycling liner plastic and another to be able to back that up.

Using our Rundle Track App, we can trace material through the entire supply chain.

From the moment it’s collected, every pound of liner we recover is tracked by tagging each liner bundle that comes off location. We also weigh every bundle before it leaves our yard. Once weighed and recorded, it heads off to the recycling facility to be processed into clean pellets.

A special thank you to all of our E & P and Water Management industry partners for their support!

In November 2020, Rundleco entered into a research joint venture project with Poly Ag Recycling to determine if the plastic both companies recycle would be suitable for manufacturing 3D printer and micro filament. The research was conducted at the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in conjunction with the National Research Council’s IRAP program. We are pleased to announce the project was a success and the U of A team was able to accomplish all goals as follows:

• Create 3D printer and micro filament using LDPE/HDPE material supplied by Poly AG
• Create 3D printer and micro filament using LLDPE material supplied by Rundleco
• Use the manufactured filament to create a covid key via 3D printer

So what’s next? Manufacturing filament from recycled plastic is nothing new. However, this is the first time it has been done with C-ring liners and grain bags. The future of plastic recycling is developing new ideas and technology. This project is a start to understanding the properties of the material we are dealing with in a practical manner. We know we can make something that you can use in day to day life. More importantly it puts the material in the hands of scientists allowing us to partner industry with the idea guys. Shout out to Dr. Cagri Ayanci and Dr. Irina Garces and their team at the U of A. Like Amazon they delivered. They are as stoked  to come up with new ideas to provide solution to the plastic recycling challenge. We’re getting ready to the launch to next project. Stay tuned..

More about the Poly Ag and Rundleco relationship. Poly Ag is based out of Bashaw Alberta and is working with Clean Farms to deal with post industrial agricultural plastic in Western Canada that previously was being processed offshore. To date they have successfully collected and processed over 5 MM pounds of plastic, mostly grain bags. Poly Ag’s goals and recycling principals align perfectly with Rundleco’s. Our research JV gave us an opportunity to get to share and develop recycling concepts that will benefit both the oil and agricultural industries. Two heads are better than one right!

We want to thank our industry partners for their support. It is their drive to prevent plastics having a negative impact on the environment that makes both Poly Ag and Rundleco work.

Thank You!

In an effort to clean up its recycling industry, China has laid down its Green Fence and National Sword policies. In a World Trade Organization filing this July, China said that imports of recovered plastics and other recovered materials will be severely restricted and in some cases totally banned.  Firms shipping recovered plastics have had to reduce their China shipments by over 40%. This has left recyclers scrabbling to find new markets and causing even more recoverable plastics to end up in landfills.

“It is unfortunate that in the short-term we may have to divert some of our recovered material to landfills but Rundle Eco continues to seek out new markets. We are working with our stakeholders and exploring markets in Canada and the US for our materials.” 

Mike Rutherford, Rundle Eco Services Ltd.

This past Wednesday, October 18^th, 2017,  our good pal, Bruce Covernton competed in the 15^th Annual Eric Francis Pizza Pig-out at Cowboys Casino and you guessed it… he was crowned champion! All that hype on Social Media was well worth it. If you didn’t consider this a win you might want to check out this article because the Calgary Sun newspaper sure thought so.  http://m.calgarysun.com/2017/10/21/big-tuna-bruce-covernton-finally-lands-big-one-with-pizza-pigout-championship

Go big or go home, Tuna!

The Friday, October 20^th game may not have been the outcome of choice for some, However, the pre-game tailgate party hosted by Big Fish Staffing and Rundle Eco Services Ltd. sure helped ease the post-game pain. We would like to thank Village Brewery for their tasty craft beer and Burgundy Oak Shop for their generous contribution of the Smoke Barrel which was essential for such an occasion. The party starts once the barrel rolls in…

We would recommend their outstanding products to everyone! For more information on their goods please visit their website: www.burgundyoak.com or their online store: www.burgundyoakshop.com

Please also check out Village Brewery: https://www.villagebrewery.com/ and Spolumbo’s as they continue to impress us with their delicious fresh artisan sausages! https://spolumbos.com/sausage/

–  The Rundle Eco Services Ltd. Team