Environmental Responsibility
Our products are not just sustainable for the environment, but also for the health and well-being of all those that come in contact with them.
Environmentally Preferable Products
- Ecore was born “green” and has been making smart choices for more than a century. Ecore started by harvesting the benefits of wood without harming trees (with Ecore cork products), and has evolved into mining waste streams for high performance raw materials, dominated currently by recycled rubber.
- What Ecore does actually goes beyond recycling, it is upcycling. Upcycling is the process of taking a material at the end of its life and converting it into something better instead of throwing it away. A tire’s main functions are to support a vehicle’s weight, provide traction, and absorb shock. When we transform tires into surfacing, we are able to harness those attributes and elevate them so that our surfaces provide MORE. More safety, more ergonomics, and more acoustics for the people interacting with our surfaces every day.
- Ecore takes back more than we put in. Ecore diverted more than 111 million pounds of truck tires from landfills in 2020 while only contributing 9.6 million pounds of waste to landfills. That’s a Net Landfill Diversion of 101.4 million pounds.
- On average, our products contain 62% post-consumer recycled content.
Ecore’s Manufacturing
- At Ecore we are committed to operating our business and facilities in a manner that uses resources wisely and protects the quality of our environment and the health and safety of our associates, families, and communities. Ecore goes to great lengths to ensure that the manufacturing process and resulting products are safe. Ecore prides itself on continuously testing and retesting products to maintain this level of quality. Ecore’s vertically integrated manufacturing capabilities include grinding, screening, removal of stone, wood, paper, fluff, fiber, and other materials from scrap tire rubber to produce exacting specifications that meet or exceed customers internal, external, and ASTM specifications. With our state of the art equipment, experienced staff, and 100 million pound capacity, Ecore is uniquely capable of producing the cleanest, most consistent, and highest quality material available in the market place.
- Ecore’s manufacturing process has virtually no waste. Scrap material from our manufacturing process is collected and recycled back into our system because rubber can be continually recycled and does not degrade through the recycling process like paper or plastics.
Reducing Our Impact
As an industry leader in recycled products technology, our products are manufactured in state of the art production facilities where we focus on and strive to continually improve our efficiency and responsible resource management. To that end, we have developed energy-efficient manufacturing processes that does not includes smokestacks, uses minimal water and little or no heat, and we reuse our scrap to minimize waste.
Water Conservation
- We employ a closed loop chilling system, re-circulating water rather than releasing it into the sewer system. This process allows us to conserve 17.5 million gallons of water each year and ensures that the absolute minimum amount of fresh water is used in our manufacturing facilities.
Energy Stewardship
- At Ecore we have developed exclusive, state of the art equipment and manufacturing processes specifically designed to improve the quality of our products and increase energy efficiency. By incorporating these proprietary methods, we are able to use 40% less energy than standard industry procedures. The amount of natural gas we conserve each year could service 120 average American homes.
- Ecore has adopted energy-efficient approaches to lighting our plants. We have changed light bulbs in our manufacturing facilities from fluorescent lights to highly efficient LED bulbs.
Air Quality Control
- By selecting only the highest quality raw materials and developing a strict manufacturing process, Ecore is able to ensure that harmful emissions are not given off to employees or the environment. In addition, several of our products have earned FloorScore certification.
Recycling Efforts
- Our products are packaged on wooden pallets and use recycled newspaper or cardboard for shipment. On-site recycling bins ensure that all other waste paper, cardboard, and plastic from incoming deliveries is diverted from area landfills as well. Our recycling efforts don't stop with our products or our manufacturing plants; Ecore actively recycles paper, plastic, and cans at its office facilities.
Recycled Rubber Coalition
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Ecore is excited to announce the release of the Recycled Rubber Coalition's newest white paper, "An Unexpected Electric Vehicle Environmental Challenge with Common Sense Solutions."
Ecore is a proud member of the Recycled Rubber Coalition and we are dedicated to overcoming these challenges. We propose practical solutions for a sustainable future, underscoring the importance of government policies supporting recycled rubber markets and introducing innovative ways to repurpose scrap tires.
Dive into the full report here.