30,000 tons of recycled glass will be used to make an advanced water filtration media by LCL Industries, Inc., a Schuylkill County business that just announced its operations this week.

At full production, this $6 million project will create approximately 25 jobs while using 30,000 tons of recycled glass per year. Additionally, the advanced processing technology uses 75 percent less energy than conventional glass processing equipment.

The company will primarily use triple mix container glass, the color mixed fraction of clear, brown, and green glass that is a consequence of many recycling programs to manufacture grit abrasives and potable water filtration media.

The project was developed with the help of the Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center and a $500,000 Recycling Markets Infrastructure Development Grant from the Department of Environmental Protection.

The RMC facilitated negotiations between LCL Industries, Inc. and Krysteline Group Ltd., resulting in LCL also being recognized as Krysteline’s sole North American headquarters of the Krysteline technology.

“Krysteline has proudly partnered with LCL Industries and the Recycling Markets Center to make this project a reality. Without involvement of RMC, it is likely our efforts to invest in Pennsylvania would not have occurred and certainly, would not have occurred as rapidly in the States,” said Stefan Michal, Managing Director at Krysteline. “Further, we have received a very warm reception from the Department of Environmental Protection in Pennsylvania.”

LCL’s keystone product will be expendable blast abrasives. Although many benefits exist in using recycled, sharp-free glass as a blasting abrasive, the primary benefits include 25 – 30 percent reduction in pneumatic blasting pressure when applying the abrasive material, which significantly reduces energy consumption during use; recycled glass abrasive does not cause silicosis as a breathing hazard unlike natural sands; recycled glass abrasive does not typically contain heavy metals similar to many mineral slags which are used domestically as blast abrasives.

LCL has been recognized by Krysteline as the North American contact for the entire range of glass Implosion equipment, ranging from high performance industrial systems to smaller commercial size units. In Europe, the smaller commercial units are frequently used in taverns and restaurants.

“We are excited to launch our business at a time when Pennsylvania has been so supportive of our manufacturing effort. Had it not been for the persistence of RMC, we would not be at this stage in our development. We are thankful for our continued DEP support,” said Laura Baranko, Vice-President and Partner, LCL Industries, Inc.

“Pennsylvania recognizes that there are innovative companies out there that are working hard to find new, novel ways to preserve our natural resources by recycling existing materials and creating other products,” said DEP Deputy Secretary Thomas Fidler. “With this project, just as with other exciting recycling projects across the commonwealth, we’re investing our resources to help build demand on the part of manufacturers for recovered glass, metal, plastic, paper and other recyclable materials. That leads to a stronger recycling market in Pennsylvania, a stronger economy, and a cleaner environment.”

To produce the grit abrasives and water filtration media, LCL will be the first company in the western hemisphere to utilize Krysteline’s advanced glass processing Implosion equipment.

Krysteline, a European Company based in Wimborne Dorset, England, has patented a technology which Implodes glass to size reduce the material rather than traditional processes that pulverize, mill, or grind the glass.

This technology utilizes principles of Implosion, similar to that of an opera singer, to shatter the glass. Because of the unique and innovative process, mechanical wear and operating cost of the equipment is significantly reduced. Typically, the resulting glass products are more geometrically uniform than recycled glass products produced from other traditional equipment.

For more information, visit the Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center or call 717-948-6660.

5/16/2008