The Use of Agricultural Waste Products for Environmental Cleanup and Remediation

Terrenew has discovered that manures, and barks as well, make highly efficient oil absorption products. The oil absorption marketplace is dominated by loose granular clay materials, e.g., the kitty litter type products, that are sold in large volumes. The company will begin to sell products for this purpose, beginning in the autumn, 2006. However, for more sophisticated markets, such as oil removal from water, melt blown polypropylene is the material of choice. The objective of the proposed research is To develop cost-effective pads and sheets that include manure as an absorbent for absorption of liquid oil and aqueous wastes and spills. Bark is an alternative material. The pads and sheets are expected to contain about 50 percent manure as the absorbent in a nonwoven fabric that may be composed of natural or synthetic fibers. The first prototypes have already been produced and are highly effective but for different uses, a large array of pads and sheets with different properties are necessary. These will be developed in this project. This research is expected to provide a major market for agricultural wastes and to provide at least a partial alternative to the use of expensive nonrenewable polypropylene sheets for oil and other spill remediation.