• Login
    • Join
  • Subscribe Free
    • Magazine
    • eNewsletter
    Checkout
    • Magazine
    • News
    • Exclusives
    • Labels & Packaging
    • Markets
    • Technology
    • Equipment
    • Supplies
    • Buyers' Guide
    • Events
    • Jobs
    • More
  • Magazine
  • News
  • Exclusives
  • Labels & Packaging
  • Markets
  • Technology
  • Equipment
  • Supplies
  • Buyers' Guide
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Current / Back Issues
    Features
    Editorial
    Columns
    Digital Edition
    eNewsletter Archive
    Our Team
    Subscribe Now
    Advertise Now
    Top Features
    Digital and Hybrid Printers and Presses

    Digital Printing Market Update

    Overlamination Films

    Narrow Web Profile: Quality Tape & Label

    Companies To Watch: Arrow Systems, Inc.
    Breaking News
    Converter News
    European Label News
    Industry News
    Industry People
    M&A News
    New Products
    Expert's Opinion
    Live From Shows
    Top News
    ABG keeps pace with demand with recruitment drive

    Acucote expands FSC-certified portfolio

    German manufacturer develops label workflow tool

    GEW partners with RMGT

    UPM Raflatac strengthens linerless business
    Blog
    Video Bites
    Beauty & Personal Care Labels
    Beer Labels
    Beverage Labels
    Flexible Packaging
    Folding Carton
    Food Labels
    Glue-Applied
    In-Mold
    Industrial Labels
    Medical Labels
    Pharmaceutical Labels
    Pressure Sensitive
    Prime Labels
    Promotional Labels
    Security Labels
    Shrink
    Smart Labels
    Specialty Labels
    Spirits Labels
    Wine Labels

    New Polyonics label material helps metal processors avoid recalls

    Mactac enhances spirits bottle label

    Designing returnable and reusable takeout packaging

    Western Shield improves efficiency with new Nilpeter FA-17

    UFlex doubling capacity of aseptic liquid packaging plant
    Africa
    Asia
    Australia
    China
    Europe
    India
    Latin America
    Middle East
    North America

    Acucote expands FSC-certified portfolio

    FTA planning in-person Forum & INFOFLEX

    Fortis Solutions Group achieves SGP certification

    Accraply introduces Sirius MK6

    Label management system aids CBD brand
    Flexography
    Digital Printing
    Prepress
    Finishing
    Sustainability

    Acucote expands FSC-certified portfolio

    FTA planning in-person Forum & INFOFLEX

    Fortis Solutions Group achieves SGP certification

    HP, Dscoop host mentor program

    Avery Dennison receives APR recognition
    Digital Printers & Presses
    Flexo Presses
    Label Converting Equipment
    Label Finishing Equipment
    Prepress Equipment

    ABG keeps pace with demand with recruitment drive

    Loftware and NiceLabel join forces

    Flint Group announces new XSYS division

    Bobst opens digital inkjet demo center in Barcelona

    Domino highlights virtual demo capabilities
    Dies And Tooling
    Flexo Supplies
    Ink & Coatings
    Prepress Supplies
    Pressrooom Supplies
    Substrates

    Acucote expands FSC-certified portfolio

    UPM Raflatac strengthens linerless business

    Techkon USA partners with Konica Minolta

    New Polyonics label material helps metal processors avoid recalls

    Mactac gives back to local communities
    All Companies
    Categories
    Company Profiles
    Label Converters
    Trade Associations
    Add New Company
    International Buyers Guide Companies
    HP, Inc.

    Dantex Group

    Martin Automatic Inc.

    Flexo Label Advantage Group LLC (FLAG)

    UPM Raflatac
    Industry Events
    Webinars
    Live from Show Events
    • Magazine
      • Current & Past Issues
      • Features
      • Editorial
      • Columns
      • Digital Edition
      • eNewsletter Archive
      • Subscribe Now
      • Advertise Now
    • Breaking News
    • Buyers' Guide
      • All Companies
      • Categories
      • Company Profiles
      • Label Converters
      • Trade Associations
      • Add Your Company
    • Labels & Packaging
      • Beauty & Personal Care Labels
      • Beer Labels
      • Beverage Labels
      • Flexible Packaging
      • Folding Carton
      • Food Labels
      • Glue-Applied
      • In-Mold
      • Industrial Labels
      • Medical Labels
      • Pharmaceuticals Labels
      • Pressure Sensitive
      • Prime Labels
      • Promotional Labels
      • Security Labels
      • Shrink
      • Smart Labels
      • Speciality Labels
      • Spirits Labels
      • Wine Tables
    • Markets
      • Africa
      • Asia
      • Australia
      • China
      • Europe
      • India
      • Latin America
      • Middle East
      • North America
    • Equipment
      • Digital Printers & Presses
      • Flexo Presses
      • Label Converting Equipment
      • Label Fishing Equipment
    • Supplies
      • Dies And Tooling
      • Flexo Supplies
      • Ink & Coatings
      • Prepress Supplies
      • Pressrooom Supplies
      • Substrates
    • Online Exclusives
    • Slideshows
    • Experts Opinions
    • Videos
    • Podcasts
    • Infographics
    • Blog
    • Whitepapers
    • Events
      • Industry Events
      • Live from Show Events
      • Webinars
    • Jobs
    • Resources
      • Supplier Gallery
      • Literature Showcase
      • Homepage Showcase
    • About Us
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms of Use
    Letters From The Earth

    Dear Santa (Bill Gates)

    ...

    Related CONTENT
    • TLMI recognizes label converters for environmental leadership
    • Circularity
    • Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Circulytics tool reveals UPM Raflatac has taken extensive action
    • Circulytics tool finds UPM Raflatac has taken action to enable a circular economy
    • Companies To Watch: K-1 Packaging Group
    Calvin Frost11.20.15
    Dear Bill Gates,

    Merry Christmas and here’s hoping you have many more.

    I just finished reading your interview with James Bennett in The Atlantic. Pretty lofty comments and at times a bit casual (and cavalier), at least that was my take.  To be fair, I agree with most everything you said, but your approach and solution to reduced CO2 seemed almost simplistic. I have found that it is not. The power of first world countries versus second world economies, political environmentalists, left and right, globally, proven technology versus unproven, and most assuredly, the investment environment of fossil versus renewable, make it extremely difficult. No, it is not simple, unless you ascribe to the thinking of Calvin and Hobbes. Calvin’s answer is, “We’re the problem!”

    Fortunately, you’re in a position to say and do anything you want.  And, you do, and thank goodness you and your wife are using your resources in a positive way.  Amen.

    But, I have a Christmas wish. I now realize I won’t make it on my own. I need a champion like you, who realizes we have a global need and challenge to reduce CO2. I need Santa Claus, aka, Bill Gates. I need $10 million to complete my project.

    Let me explain...
    In the late 60’s, I went from the fiberglass industry to the recycling industry. In the mid 70’s I started our company which eventually became a leader in “the recycling of non-recyclables.” Part of the solution was putting non-recyclables into “renewable” energy applications.  I began to focus on this solution as a very viable part of our business model.  Those materials that couldn’t be reprocessed for reuse went into energy. It fascinated me. All those materials that had been created to be impervious to water and warmth and cold and sun would have a useful end of life by becoming feedstock for energy, renewable energy.  What a great story, right?  Well, to be honest, this part of our business has never been successful. I made some mistakes, took some wrong turns, chased some wrong partners, and so on. In the process, I blew a lot of money. I think I lost sight of reality – the fact that America doesn’t even have an energy policy, much less a renewable energy policy. If oil is cheap, we move to oil. If gas is cheap, we move to gas. The hell with what manufacturing these feedstocks does to the environment. Move over baby, I’ve got cheap energy – and that means profiit!

    I didn’t think about any of that. I was on a trip to save our industry, to make an incredibly complex supply chain friendly, to make it more sustainable with renewable energy as the solution. And, I really did this (altruistically) to improve our industry. Sure, I wanted to make money in the process, but I wanted our industry to change more than anything else. If it was, and is, to be competitive, we must have renewable adhesive technologies.  We must utilize compostable adhesives.  We must recycle silicone-coated liner. And, above all, we must divert non-recyclable manufacturing byproduct into renewable energy.

    I am convinced that all I need is a $10 million Christmas gift from you for the final push.  Yup, we’re that close.  That cash will bring us to success. Let me tell you the story. I’ll try to be brief and keep sarcasm and cynicism to a minimum. First, you need to understand the industry that generates these materials: Major corporations – household names to you – generate non-recyclable materials in huge volume all over America, indeed, all over the world.  These materials include:

    Coated Mill Wrappers
    Plastic Coated Cups
    Poly Coated Cups
    Pressure Sensitive Labelstock
    Coated Tube & Core Stock
    Waxed Cup Cuttings
    Poly Laminated Scrap & Cuttings
    Book/Binding Waste
    Waxed Corrugated & Cuttings
    Poly Coated Diaper Stock
    Wet Strength Scrap & Cuttings
    Poly Coated Slab Scrap
    Carbon Forms
    Most Nonwovens
    Paper Based Flexible Packaging Waste
    Film, Foil, Poly-Laminated, Flexible Packaging Waste

    These materials are coated, treated, and laminated papers and films that are not recyclable. Examples include a pressure sensitive label that has a non-recyclable adhesive that may go on a cosmetic container or a beverage bottle. The volumes are huge. Just think about it, and also think about what the traditional PSA label does to the recycling process. It ain’t pretty! Another example of a non-recyclable is a flexible packaging substrate, a multi-layered material like a candy bar wrapper or something you may buy in the grocery store for food packaging. Let me know if you want me to send some physical examples.  Another example you’ll recognize immediately is Scotch Tape. We all use this daily. But, what we forget is that it’s not very friendly. It’s not recyclable. It’s a piece of film with some glue (remember that as you wrap your family Christmas presents. In my case, I’ll take the $10 million by wire. No byproduct issues.)

    I trust you get the picture. The point I’m trying to make is that as good as these materials are for our well-being and efficiency and cost, if they generate CO2, they’re a problem. They create the very thing that you discuss in The Atlantic interview and interfere with achieving “our” energy miracle. I’m with you!

    Here’s what I’d do with that $10 million: I would finish my development project, using non-recyclables to create renewable energy and in this process reduce CO2 substantially.

    Every manufacturer of non-recyclables, every customer downstream of non-recyclables, currently has the cost of transporting these materials to landfills or incineration. My solution doesn’t eliminate that cost, it merely changes the destination of a non-recyclable from a landfill to a useful renewable application. At the present time, this doesn’t make too much sense in the US because we have so much cheap fossil fuel (and cheap landfills for that matter). Europe is so far ahead of us with legislation that it probably works there (note the article in The Wall Street Journal on energy feedstocks in the October 19 issue).  The difference between the German view and my concept is that my idea is “renewable,” theirs is not.

    Let me cut to the chase: after you have the feedstocks, they need to be processed into a fuel pellet.  Note in the illustration below they are quite small.  The ingredients in the pellet mentioned above are metered together in a “recipe” in large volumes.  There is a science to this and certainly the materials are evaluated on a regular basis.  This is to make sure there are no organics (these go to composting) or chlorinated materials which would cause unacceptable emissions.  After the pellet has been manufactured it is sent to “gasification” and a syngas is created that is every bit as intense and clean as natural gas. The finished gas has equal caloric value but obviously is not fossil, but renewable. Voila! Non-recyclables to pellets to gas. Sounds pretty simple, right?

    Sorry, not right. Every step is a legislative nightmare.  There are no tax incentives, no lobby support in Washington, and as has been my situation, I find myself trying to get from second base to third without the resources.  We’ve made pellets successfully.  We have gasified those pellets successfully. We have a determination by specific authorities here and in Europe that our feedstocks are considered “non” waste which is imperative in qualifying the energy as renewable. We have all of that, but what we don’t have is the cash to bring the pieces together, creating an entity that makes sense for everyone. I believe my project will help you realize your manifesto of reducing CO2.

    I know solar and wind make sense in achieving your goal. But I promise you, taking non-recyclables and converting them into renewable energy harnesses a problem and creates another viable renewable.

    We have a common goal, reduce greenhouse gas. I pray the meeting in Paris will bring more than past meetings. Regardless, I want action now. I don’t want another Paris. I don’t want venture capital money.  Those guys are like vultures and to be honest, they don’t know anything. They take, they don’t give. My wish for this Christmas is for Bill Gates to say, “Hey, this is interesting, give me specific details.”  Now wouldn’t that be fun? And, a very merry Christmas, indeed.

    P.S.  As Mark Shapiro says in a very interesting, short column in the November/December issue of Mother Jones, the oil industry is “over a barrel.”  While oil is going to be here for a long while “the barrel it is over is increasingly hard to ignore.”  The price of oil versus the cost to find and manufacture. Go renewables! And, Merry Christmas to all.

    Another Letter from the Earth.



    Calvin Frost is chairman of Channeled Resources Group, headquartered in Chicago, the parent company of Maratech International and GMC Coating. His email address is cfrost@channeledresources.com.
    Related Searches
    • packaging
    • pressure sensitive
    • adhesives
    • emissions
    Suggested For You
    TLMI recognizes label converters for environmental leadership TLMI recognizes label converters for environmental leadership
    Circularity Circularity
    Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Circulytics tool reveals UPM Raflatac has taken extensive action Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Circulytics tool reveals UPM Raflatac has taken extensive action
    Circulytics tool finds UPM Raflatac has taken action to enable a circular economy Circulytics tool finds UPM Raflatac has taken action to enable a circular economy
    Companies To Watch:  K-1 Packaging Group Companies To Watch: K-1 Packaging Group
    Channeled Resources Group Channeled Resources Group

    Related Letters From The Earth

    • All roads lead to China

      ...
      Calvin Frost 04.03.20

    • Turning waste into gold

      A new process could potentially change the waste and recycling markets.
      Calvin Frost 03.05.20

    • The asteroid is us

      The asteroid is us

      ...
      Calvin Frost 01.31.20


    • Sacrifice and survival

      Sacrifice and survival

      ...
      Calvin Frost 11.15.19

    • Invasive plants and animals

      ...
      Calvin Frost 10.11.19

    • Palm oil

      ...
      Calvin Frost 09.04.19


    • Evian spelled backward

      ...
      Calvin Frost 07.10.19

    • Chemistry is the culprit

      ...
      Calvin Frost 05.31.19

    • Garbage patch gyres

      ...
      Calvin Frost 04.05.19


    • Taking responsibility

      ...
      Calvin Frost 03.14.19

    • This is not about China

      ...
      Calvin Frost 02.01.19

    • China means business

      ...
      Calvin Frost 11.16.18


    • Improving photosynthesis

      Improving photosynthesis

      ...
      Calvin Frost 10.12.18

    • Sustainable investing

      ...
      Calvin Frost 09.10.18

    • A monster of a problem

      A monster of a problem

      ...
      Calvin Frost 07.13.18


    Trending
    • Fathom Optics Unleashes New Technology Targeting Packaging Industry
    • Alon Bar-Shany Appointed Chairman Of Highcon Board
    • L&NW Sits Down With PPG's Amy Mercante
    • Avery Dennison Receives APR Recognition
    • Flint Group Announces New XSYS Division
    Breaking News
    • ABG keeps pace with demand with recruitment drive
    • Acucote expands FSC-certified portfolio
    • German manufacturer develops label workflow tool
    • GEW partners with RMGT
    • UPM Raflatac strengthens linerless business
    View Breaking News >
    CURRENT ISSUE

    November/December 2020

    • Digital and Hybrid Printers and Presses
    • Digital Printing Market Update
    • Overlamination Films
    • Narrow Web Profile: Quality Tape & Label
    • View More >

    Cookies help us to provide you with an excellent service. By using our website, you declare yourself in agreement with our use of cookies.
    You can obtain detailed information about the use of cookies on our website by clicking on "More information”.

    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms And Conditions
    • Contact Us

    follow us

    Subscribe
    Nutraceuticals World

    Latest Breaking News From Nutraceuticals World

    BGG Obtains U.S. Patent on AstaZine Natural Astaxanthin for Heart Function During Exercise
    Qualitas Health/iwi Raises $10 Million in Investment Round
    Aker BioMarine Expands Krill Portfolio with Novel Protein Hydrolysate
    Coatings World

    Latest Breaking News From Coatings World

    IGL Coatings Launches Graphene Reinforced Dual System Ceramic Coating
    TAUBMANS Paint by PPG Releases ‘Chromatic Joy’ Palettes
    Huntsman Finalizes Acquisition of Gabriel Performance Products
    Medical Product Outsourcing

    Latest Breaking News From Medical Product Outsourcing

    Intersect ENT Announces CMS Approval of Coding Application for Sinus Implant
    Hillrom to Buy Bardy Diagnostics for $375M
    Global Tissue and Organ Transplantation Market to Surpass $25.6 Billion by 2027
    Contract Pharma

    Latest Breaking News From Contract Pharma

    Bone Therapeutics, Rigenerand Ink Cell Therapy Deal
    NovaQuest Private Equity Acquires CoreRx
    JS Bio and Etta Biotech Advancing Partnership
    Beauty Packaging

    Latest Breaking News From Beauty Packaging

    Sigma Beauty Launches 'Brush Care' Sets at Sephora
    Clarins UK Partners with Vee24
    Alastin Skincare Named as Fastest Growing Skincare Brand
    Happi

    Latest Breaking News From Happi

    Top 10 Global Consumer Trends 2021
    A Surge in Interest for Supplements & Vitamins
    Gattefossé Launches Inspiration Collection
    Ink World

    Latest Breaking News From Ink World

    Cowan Graphics Adds Fujifilm Inca OnsetX3 HS
    Packaging Printing Market Worth $433.4 Billion by 2025: MarketsandMarkets
    O-I Foundation Gifts $50k to Facilitate COVID-19 Vaccine Access
    Label & Narrow Web

    Latest Breaking News From Label & Narrow Web

    ABG keeps pace with demand with recruitment drive
    Acucote expands FSC-certified portfolio
    German manufacturer develops label workflow tool
    Nonwovens Industry

    Latest Breaking News From Nonwovens Industry

    Honeywell Delivered 225 Million Masks in December
    Techtextil, Texprocess Postponed to 2022
    Super Strong Inks Survive Tough Environments
    Orthopedic Design & Technology

    Latest Breaking News From Orthopedic Design & Technology

    DePuy Synthes Receives 510(k) FDA Clearance for VELYS Robotic-Assisted Solution
    OrthoPediatrics Expands Agent Network in Three European Countries
    Studies Show FlareHawk Expandable Cage Delivers Favorable Fusion, Patient Outcomes
    Printed Electronics Now

    Latest Breaking News From Printed Electronics Now

    UDC Subsidiary Adesis' Website Wins 2020 MarCom Platinum Award
    Roadsimple Modernizes Warehouse Ops with Zebra Technologies
    Graphene Flagship Launches Redesigned Website

    Copyright © 2021 Rodman Media. All rights reserved. Use of this constitutes acceptance of our privacy policy The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Rodman Media.

    AD BLOCKER DETECTED

    Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors.
    Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.


    FREE SUBSCRIPTION Already a subscriber? Login