Ashland and Engelhard team to reduce waste in Texas landfills

Dublin, OH— Imagine the problem of trying to find space to corral 2,000 elephants. That was the type of issue facing Ashland Environmental Services, a business of Ashland Distribution, a division of Ashland Inc., and client Engelhard Corporation. While neither company is in the business of corralling elephants, they worked together to save Texas landfills from an annual burden of 29.2 million pounds, which is the equivalent weight of 2,000 elephants.

“The material being recycled is a Titanium Dioxide Slurry, which is a Class Two Non-Hazardous Waste,” said Kieran McGeagh, territory manager, Ashland Environmental Services. “It has the texture of a paste and is a byproduct from one of the processes used by our client Engelhard. We worked together to find an alternative to putting this byproduct into a landfill; and we found one.”

Coming to the conclusion to approach the road paving industry with this idea was not easy, according to Engelhard’s Unit Supervisor Toby Meyers. “We explored other beneficial use opportunities without much success until we hit on the paving idea,” said Meyers. “It was through our collaborative efforts with Ashland Environmental Services that we were able to put it all together.”

The mineral filler is not directly taken to a construction site, but it is reprocessed into flexible road base material and then sent to construction sites. “This is a perfect example of a ‘win-win,’” said McGeagh. “We’re reducing the amount of waste going to the landfill and supplementing a natural resource, such as limestone, that would be used if this mineral filler was not being used.”