ORLANDO, FLA.—Clean the World, an Orlando-based social enterprise dedicated to collecting, recycling and distributing hotel soap to battle preventable diseases and protect the planet, is teaming with a high-technology incubator to fuel a series of socially responsible innovations and sustainable energy projects in the hospitality industry and beyond.
Looking to expand its recycling and upcycling opportunities worldwide, Clean the World has formed a joint venture with Eco Convergence Group Inc. (ECG), an Orlando-based engineering and technology development company focusing on the sustainability market. The partners are developing several forward-thinking initiatives including advanced mobile waste processors, geopolymer green construction materials, hydroponic vertical multi-layer food production, and technology for simultaneous removal of Nano-particles and gaseous pollutants.
Goals of the Clean the World-ECG joint venture include limiting the global spread of disease through better hygiene, developing more cost-efficient construction materials, providing healthier, more sustainable food sources, and reducing waste and contamination in landfills and drinking water.
Some projects in the works include:
• Mobile Waste Processors (MWPs) that will work with hotels and restaurants to provide on-site processing of grease, liquid sludge, and organic waste products into energy and/or biofuels without generating any emissions.
• Green construction materials made with geopolymer activators to improve upon and replace ordinary Portland cement and concrete. The materials will have the potential to reduce the CO2 footprint by 80 percent, while deploying more cost-effective and superior construction materials for industrial use.
• Generating and storing clean energy (waste, hydro/wind, solar/thermal, etc.) using energy towers, water displacement and vertical transport technology.
• Algae farms-to-aquacultures-to-hydroponic closed loop systems targeting indoor vertical growth of organic food products in areas where landscape and environment may hamper healthy farming efforts. Combined with the joint venture’s own “green” construction designs and various methods of producing clean energy, the models are adaptable to any temperature zone, while being fully sustainable from an energy point of view.
First Deployments in Orlando, Las Vegas
ECG’s Mobile Processing Systems will be deployed first in North America at two Clean the World recycling operations facilities in the United States—Orlando and Las Vegas. Soon thereafter, plans are to add similar systems at Clean the World’s Canadian facilities in Vancouver and Toronto. The four facilities will be outfitted with fixed processing equipment for the recycling of soap, plastics and aluminum collected from the hospitality industry. In addition the facilities will accommodate for the sequestration of CO2 emissions collected from the process with direct feed into algae farms.
“The opportunity exists to truly transform the way people think about waste and energy production to improve the standard of living for communities all around the world,” says Shawn Seipler, CEO and co-founder at Clean the World. “Our successful soap recycling effort within the hospitality industry is opening doors to broader, bolder sustainable initiatives that hospitality and other industries may embrace to create a cleaner, more efficient and healthier environment.”
Mobile waste processors will be the first and most visible project in the works. The MWP units, roughly the size of small sanitation vehicles, will pull up to a hotel, take its organic waste and other recyclables and process it into gas and electricity.
Clean the World will leverage its global hospitality industry partnerships in this joint venture with ECG, which in turn will capitalize on strong economic development connections in Europe and Asia to seek investment capital and satisfy global demand for sustainable solutions to solve the world’s energy and efficiency problems through innovative technology.
ECG envisions broad adoption of the mobile waste processing, especially in Europe, where ECG has been receiving inquiries about this type of project for some time.
“We’ve been developing this technology for a long time, but when we were introduced to Clean the World and witnessed the success they were having with hotel soap and bottled amenities recycling, we knew this would be a great fit,” says Robert Ramsey, CEO and founder of ECG. “Technology doesn’t wait for opportunity, but when an opportunity presents itself, technology and superior engineering have to be ready to capitalize. That’s what this joint venture is all about.”
Go to Clean the World and Eco Convergence Group Inc.
