Israeli recycling company UBQ Materials entered a partnership with the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority (CVWMA) to implement the company’s new thermoplastic recycling bins, reports Trend referring to Reuters.
UBQ, based in Kibbutz Tze’elim, unveiled its solution a few weeks ago, which converts unsorted household waste into a sustainable, bio-based, climate-positive thermoplastic material, coined “UBQ Material.” The material was titled the most climate-positive thermoplastic material on the planet by Quantis, the leading provider of environmental impact assessments. CVWMA will be offering 2,000 recycling bins made with UBQ Material, which arrived recently in the central Virginia facility.
“Virginia has long been proud to welcome some of the most innovative companies that provide new opportunities for our commonwealth,” said Virginia State Senator Tommy Norment said. “UBQ is a world-changing technology that has the potential to change the face of so many industries. I’m proud to see Virginia at the forefront of this solution and cannot wait to see what comes next.”
Executive director of CVWMA Kim Hynes said that the company’s “partnership with UBQ is an extension of the company’s efforts – finding a productive way to deal with waste and improve the community around us.
“Come pick up a bin before we run out!” she added.
UBQ was founded in 2012 by Rabbi Yehuda Pearl, founder of the famed hummus brand Sabra, and Jack “Tato” Bigio, a leader in the field of renewable energy.
The process of taking trash and turning it into UBQ Material requires the company to break down the waste – made up of 80% organic material and 20% plastic – on a nearly molecular level, combining its most basic organic components with plastic, which can later be integrated into existing manufacturing processes – such as recycling bins, for example.
“I am sure that this partnership will lead to great opportunities for UBQ and our partners, just as I am sure that it will help create a better future and a cleaner world,” said Pearl.
“We have created a new natural resource from the household waste that ends up in landfills, avoiding its decomposition into harmful gases, while replacing scarce and expensive plastic materials made from oil,” Bigio told The Jerusalem Post in July. “That’s a blessing to the industry. Many companies in the last 10 to 20 years have emerged with solutions that turn out to be flops in one way or another.”