SPRINGDALE, Ark., Nov. 19, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:AERT), a leading plastics recycler and manufacturer of Green building products, recently announced that construction of the initial phase of its state of the art, world class plastic recycling facility near Watts, Oklahoma is nearing completion and is scheduled to start up in the first quarter of 2010. The company has also filed for LEED certification and anticipates that the Watts facility will soon be the first LEED certified recycling facility in Oklahoma. The initial phase will be focused on recycling low end, highly contaminated waste polyethylene films into bulk plastic feedstocks for AERT's composite manufacturing plants in Arkansas.
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Upon startup of the facility, the company will promptly move into second stage construction whereby additional storage and equipment will be installed to allow recycled polyethylene plastics to be blended and reformulated into Green recycled plastic resins. These resins will be sold to third party manufacturers for ever increasing sustainable and recycled content applications.
Polyethylene plastic is one of the most under recycled resources in the American waste stream with only about seven percent recycled according to 2008 EPA statistics. AERT's new Watts plant will increase the national capacity for recycling polyethylene and simultaneously create American jobs.
Recycling polyethylene plastic such as grocery bags, stretch wrap, and packaging material has significant energy and environmental impacts. Recycling one pound of low density polyethylene results in a savings of 30,099 British thermal units (Btu) of energy according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The polyethylene recycled at AERT's new reclamation plant during its first year of operation will result in saving an amount of energy equal to over 2.1 trillion Btu or the equivalent of the gasoline consumed in over 23,000 passenger vehicles.
Greenhouse gas generation is also reduced as a result of recycling polyethylene. According to the EPA, recycling one ton of low density polyethylene results in saving 1.71 metric tons of CO2 equivalent. The greenhouse gas reduction created by the new plant is estimated to be equal to removing over 10,000 passenger vehicles from the road.
The Watts recycling facility was funded by Allstate Investments with additional financial support from the Cherokee Nation, the State of Oklahoma, Adair County, local government entities, and the United States Departments of Commerce and Energy which helped provide site infrastructure support including road and sewer improvements for the area.
"We are extremely appreciative of the involvement and commitment of all parties in helping move this project forward during this difficult economic period in our country's history," stated AERT CEO, Joe Brooks. "AERT's Watts project exemplifies the spirit and the 'can do' attitude of America, Oklahoma, and of AERT associates, and will shortly demonstrate to the world that recycling plastic will make AERT more competitive, hedge against future petrochemical related price increases, and save enormous amounts of energy. Practicing conservation and being Green and sustainable is simply common sense and it will contribute significantly to improve profitability for AERT in 2010," Brooks concluded.
About Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies, Inc.
Since 1989, AERT (Nasdaq:AERT) has pioneered the use of recycled polyethylene plastic in the manufacture of composite building materials. With its constantly evolving portfolio of patented and proprietary recycling technologies, AERT has been widely recognized as a leader in resource conservation innovation and received the EPA Award for Environmental Excellence for its process of converting scrap plastic to composite outdoor decking. AERT converts reclaimed plastic and wood fiber waste into quality outdoor decking systems, fence systems, and door and window components. The Company is the exclusive manufacturer of Weyerhaeuser ChoiceDek(R) decking, which is available in multiple colors and is sold in all Lowe's Home Improvement stores. See http://www.choicedek.com for more information. AERT's MoistureShield(R) decking program is expanding and products are available in many parts of the U.S. now, with national distribution planned for 2009. See http://www.moistureshield.com for product information or to find a regional distributor or dealer. AERT operates manufacturing facilities in Springdale and Lowell, with a raw materials facility in Junction, Texas and a state-of-the-art recycling facility under construction in Watts, Oklahoma. For more information on the Company, visit http://www.aertinc.com.
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Certain statements in this news release regarding projected results of operations, or, projected results of financial plans or future strategies and initiatives, including, but not limited to, projections of revenue, projections of profitability, any and all future expectation, and plans for future activities may and should be regarded as "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act. These statements involve, among other things, known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause AERT, Inc.'s actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. AERT currently is considering, but may or may not in the future implement any or all of the items and issues listed in any planned budget or strategic initiative, due to, among other things, known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors.
AERT, Inc. undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, change in strategy, or otherwise. The above-mentioned listing of risks and uncertainties is not inclusive. For a more detailed discussion of some, but not all, of the risks and uncertainties that may affect AERT, Inc., see AERT, Inc.'s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K, for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008 and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2009.
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