NewAge Industries announces plan to recycle silicone tubing waste

Plastic and silicone tubing manufacturer NewAge Industries is now able to recycle the waste from its silicone tubing and braid reinforced hose extrusion processes.

The recycled scrap finds new purpose as silicone oil for industrial applications.

Production Manager Matt Bauer said: “We’re always looking for ways to reduce manufacturing waste. We’ve been recycling our plastic scrap for years, but recycling silicone can be complicated. Producing silicone oil from silicone tubing is a multi-step reclamation process that few companies are doing.”

Tubing scrap is created at the beginning and end of the extrusion process as technicians adjust the equipment for proper tubing dimensions. That tubing, and any other that fails to meet strict quality standards, is collected and shipped to ECO USA, a company that specializes in reclaiming silicone oil.

NewAge partners with ECO USA and their silicone recycling plant in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Following transport to the facility, silicone is ground into small pieces, mixed with catalysts and heated to break down its chemical bonds. Liquids from this stage are filtered, refined, polymerized into silicone oils and filtered again. The final product is silicone oil that is comparable to virgin silicone oil manufactured from silicon dioxide. The oil is used in industrial applications such as lubricants, sealants and automotive dressing.

The team at NewAge takes pride in the company’s many sustainability practices. NewAge’s main facility has been embracing solar power for over nine years, and several other activities – from trash and e-waste recycling, to replacing windows and lighting, to adding an electric vehicle charging station – have been initiated.