Fielding gives new life to used chemicals
Giving chemicals new life at Fielding’s Mississauga, Ont. plant.
Photo: Fielding
It burns Ellen McGregor to see manufacturers send chemical waste to be incinerated. Organic chemicals are derived from oil, says the president of Fielding Chemical Technologies Inc. “When a manufacturer chooses to burn their chemical waste, they are burning a non-renewable resource.”
Spent chemicals, such as those in the gunwash used to clear paint guns in the automotive industry, isopropyl alcohol used in making pharmaceuticals, or even harmful refrigerants, can be recycled—some restored like new—says McGregor.
“It’s better for the environment to recycle chemicals than to incinerate them or use them to fuel cement kilns. It leaves more of a carbon footprint to produce virgin chemicals. It leaves more of a carbon footprint to continue to mine our lands for oil. So, if you’ve protected that non-renewable resource in a way that’s responsible to the environment, you have served the environment in a better way than to use it for fuel.”
The company has been recognized for its enviromental focus and green efforts, winning Deloitte’s 2010 Canadian Technology Green 15 award which acknowledges any technology that promotes more efficient use and reuse of resources in industrial production or consumption.
Not surprisingly, McGregor is a proponent of green chemistry, a relatively new, burgeoning sector within the $3-trillion global chemistry industry. Driven by sustainability and climate change challenges, green chemists aim to design products and processes that eliminate or minimize damage to the environment while reducing waste and energy consumption.
For example, the patent holders of painkiller Ibuprofen revisited their formulation in the 1990s, substantially reducing the use of solvents per kilogram of drug produced by using green chemistry. This reduced the waste generated and substantially improved their profitability.
A chemical recycling business since 1955 when Ellen’s father Jack McGregor convinced Ford Motor Co. of Canada to reclaim its gunwash, Fielding continues to pursue environmental solutions for manufacturers. The solvent and refrigerant recycler’s credentials include registration to the environmental management standard ISO 14001 and the quality standard ISO 9001. The Mississauga, Ont.-based company, which has 60 employees, is a member of both Ontario’s Environmental Leaders and the chemical industry’s Responsible Distribution programs. And it recently mentored Rejuvenate, a green chemistry startup that has since sold one of its innovations.
Fielding is one of eight industrial sponsors of GreenCentre Canada, a national Centre of Excellence established at Queen’s University in 2009 for commercializing early-stage green chemistry discoveries. GreenCentre Canada brings together researchers from universities across Canada, teams them up with private investors, provides laboratory facilities and funding with the intention of bringing innovations to the commercialization stage. To date, 160 disclosures from 68 research groups at 23 institutions have been identified. The centre has secured $24 million in funding and created 18 highly skilled jobs at its 10,000 square-foot facility.
One recent project with interesting potential is the creation of a solvent that changes its polarity characteristics. Rui Resendes, GreenCentre Canada’s executive director, says it’s used to resolve some significant environmental challenges. It could help deal with expanded polystyrene foam or post-consumer motor oil containers that end up in landfill sites.
Back in black
While green chemistry is good for the environment, another important driver of innovation is dollars and sense, says Resendes. It makes sense to use less energy, use resources more efficiently, create less waste and require less waste treatment. Recycling avoids penalties and fees for dumping.
“Green is becoming increasingly synonymous with a black P&L sheet,” says Resendes.
Fielding will pay for some materials that an incinerator firm would charge to burn, because it’s feedstock.