Spotlight on 2022 Project of the Year Winner: Clean Earth’s Reuse Solution

by Staff Writer | May 3, 2023

This article is included in these additional categories:

Environmental Management | Waste & Recycling

Clean Earth Project of the Year Winner

Clean Earth’s Reuse Solution for Hand Sanitizer

When large volumes of hand sanitizers were produced and purchased in 2020 to combat COVID-19, many companies were over-stocked and couldn’t manage the excess inventory. In addition, the consumer need for hand sanitizer prompted nontraditional manufacturers to produce and sell hand sanitizer– an otherwise niche market– that often failed to meet FDA standards.

Companies stuck with large quantities of off-spec recalled or expired hand sanitizing products are experiencing an urgent need for disposal. In a world awash in hand sanitizer, Clean Earth had a goal to provide a nationwide alternative reuse solution for this waste stream. The customized solution gives non-viable hand sanitizers a second life as a new usable energy source. A fuel blending process enables alcohol to be recovered from the hand sanitizer, transforming the waste into a gas fuel additive product. To date, the recycling solution has salvaged more than 1 million pounds of non-viable hand sanitizer products.

Clean Earth bottles of blue hand sanitizer

(Credit: Clean Earth)

What the 2022 Judge’s had to say:

“Thanks to Clean Earth’s all-compassing recycling solution, working with partners they’ve been able to recover alcohol to use as a gas fuel additive, and also recycle containers of all types. Once recycled, recovered materials are no longer considered hazardous waste, thus helping companies by removing the burden of being counted toward their hazardous waste generator status. This has been a huge boon in the post-Covid days.”

“As a direct consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant production/overproduction of hand sanitizer, Clean Earth has devised a timely and innovative solution. A fuel blending process enables alcohol to be recovered from the hand sanitizer, transforming the waste into a gas fuel additive product. Once the alcohol is recovered, the nearly empty hand sanitizer containers are processed using fuel blending. This preserves all of the material’s energy value and metal cans are crushed and scrapped for recycling.”

All 2023 award winners will be featured in the annual Awards Book and receive recognition from E+E Leader during the July Solutions Summit.

For Information on the 2024 Awards Program reach out to Kay Harrison.