Page 36 - Plastics News September 2017

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

North Carolina begins legal Tubing maker NewAge goes

action against Chemours landfi ll free

N orth Carolina begins legal action against Chemours ewAge Industries Inc., a maker of plastic and
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Nrubber tubing, reports the company has received
landfill-free status. The Southampton, Pa.-based
Quality (DEQ) and state Department of Justice (DOJ)
have started a civil court action against Chemours Co. for
dumping chemicals in into the Cape Fear River.Chemours’
permit for discharging wastewater into the river has also
been suspended, as the company had failed to “adequately
disclose the release of GenX into the river.” GenX is a
byproduct generated from fl uoromonomers production
at Chemours’ manufacturing plant in Fayetteville, North
Carolina. Investigations into the presence of GenX in the
river started in June following media reports that claimed
traces of the chemical had been found in North Carolina
drinking water. “Protecting people's drinking water is
our top priority, and we’ve put Chemours on notice that
it must stop discharging these chemicals into the Cape
Fear River immediately,” said Michael Regan, secretary of
the North Carolina DEQ.Chemours, he added, must stop
releasing all fl uorinated compounds and fully disclose all
chemicals in its waste stream. GenX is used to replace company is using a variety of techniques — recycling,
PFOA in Tefl on products. reuse and incineration — to avoid sending materials
Chemours said it would continue to work closely with to landfi lls.
local and state offi cials to answer questions, provide
"This has been a goal of ours as part of our sustainability
information as needed, and determine next steps.
program," CEO Ken Baker said in a statement. "We
Chemours is also being investigated by the Dutch
Department for Infrastructure and Environment in the went solar in 2011. Plant investments followed in
Netherlands for alleged dumping of the substance into the form of new windows, energy effi cient lighting,
water. The company has responded to allegations by the building insulation and high effi ciency motors and
capacitors. Going landfi ll free was a logical step."
Extruded plastic tubing, at the beginning of a
production run, is a manufacturing byproduct. The
material cannot be used because it does not meet
dimensional requirements. This beginning-of-the-run
material can add up to thousands of pounds of material
each year. However, the company said, the tubing "is
reused and made into new tubing whenever possible.
Some rubber tubing scrap is able to be recycled as well
and is incorporated into other industrial products."
Dutch minister of infrastructure and environment that the NewAge Industries makes both reinforced and
contamination in the nearby Merwede river had occurred unreinforced plastic and rubber tubing, and has been
through the air. Chemours, which has used GenX instead of an employee-owned company since 2006.
PFOA at the European site since 2012, has been permitted "We're proud to be part of an environmentally friendly
to emit the compound GemX into the atmosphere in the solution to the challenge of waste disposal," Baker in
Netherlands. his statement. "

Plastics News | September 2017 36