A Niagara Falls manufacturer that converts waste plastic into clean liquid fuel is teaming with art supplies brand Crayola to recycle old markers.
JBI, Inc. is joining Crayola to launch the COLORCYCLE program, which converts the markers into clean energy. The program is conducted through out the U.S. in participating K-12 schools.
John Bordynuik, who founded JBI, says the company has already recycled several hundreds of thousands of pounds of Crayola products.
"Markers, inherently, are very difficult to recycle because there are so many different types of plastic in a package. And because the markers have to be safe for small children, they can't easily take them apart. So recycling in the past has been fairly difficult," Bordynuik says.
The company founder says the program is fairly simple.
"Schools gather and collect markers and small crayon chunks. They put them in a box, FedEx delivers them to our site in Niagara Falls, New York, and we process them in a machine," he says.
JBI uses an environmentally-friendly and cost-effective process to convert waste plastics into clean fuel. The fuels are used in boilers and ships and can be blended with additives to make gasoline.
Schools can go Crayola's website to get involved in the program.