WastAway teams with Tennessee Tech
WastAway, a subsidiary of Bouldin Corp., is working with Tennessee Tech in a research program that should eventually benefit both entities, according to WastAway and university officials.
A contingent of 10 professors and administrators, representing several disciplines at Tennessee Tech, visited WastAway recently to view the process with an eye to using the university’s facilities to provide environmental studies and testing of the company’s products
“First of all, I think it’s a neat process,” said Francis Otuonye, PhD, Associate Vice President of Research and Graduate Studies at Tech. “It fits in with the mission of Tennessee Tech. We’re an educational institution and we’re also involved with economic development. This is a new business and, of course, if we can help them improve their technology, it would be a win-win situation.”
Otuonye said the university will be testing several aspects of WastAway’s products.
“I think at this point the products that they have, the fluff and then the extruded materials, need some testing,” Otuonye said. “For example, on the extruded materials we need to look at the strength, how well they perform under pressure. And for the fluff, we need to look at the characteristics. What type of shrubs or plants would grow in it.”
Dennis B. George, PhD, Director of the Center for the Management, Utilization and Protection of Water Resources, and Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Tech, said the university is impressed with the WastAway process and the company’s focus on recycling.
“What the Bouldin Corp. is doing is addressing a national initiative for solid waste,” George said. “There’s no doubt that solid waste is a growing problem and always has been. And their process is definitely a process that provides us an opportunity to take care of that waste in an environmentally safe manner. And I think that’s where the university can come in too, because we can add to that up front, with research in order to improve it, and also collect information that will not only affect Bouldin, but other solid waste industries.”
WastAway’s Bob Brown was pleased with the interest shown by the university and indicated the company was anxious to cooperate with the academic institution. The interest began with a recent visit by Tennessee Tech president Bob Bell.
“This is the third meeting we’ve had,” Brown said. “Dr. Bell came down about three or four weeks ago and we shared the project with him. There was a lot of mutual interest in research projects that would benefit the university at the graduate level and, down the road, would benefit us and society as a whole as we learn how to process the garbage.
“So that’s the reason for this meeting,” Brown added. “Trying to identify some areas that would be beneficial to us as well as beneficial to the university.”