Turtle Plastics - Recycling Byproducts Into Usable Goods

Tom Norton, President of Turtle Plastics in Lorain, OH knows a thing or two about recycling materials. He has been in the business of recycling since 1980, having developed the first MRF in the state of Ohio. The process of recycling materials evolved into making products from the materials. Specifically, Turtle Plastics makes modular matting and industrial plastic cribbing from PVC. The PVC primarily comes from the automobile industry's waste - their trash is Turtle's treasure. The matting has several applications from entrances to swimming pools, manufacturing floors to fire stations. Turtle has found other waste streams to incorporate into its matting products, including carpet remnants from the carpet industry and grit from the sandpaper industry to create nonslip surfaces.

This year, Turtle implemented a buy back program. Customers can return the recycled PVC products to Turtle, where they are cleaned, reground and turned back into products, effectively closing the loop. The customer receives a credit towards future purchases, building customer loyalty.

Turtle, which started in 1985, not only finds ways to use recycled materials in its products, it also embraces energy efficiency and renewable energy. A quick walk through the warehouse and one is amazed by all the natural light coming in through the skylights. In fact, the lights weren't even on! This year, Turtle installed a wind turbine, which they tied into the power grid. Although there have been some problems with this technology and it is currently not up and running, Norton is committed to making this work and says the turbine will provide all the power needed to run the facility.