A majority of the miles upon miles of plastic oil booms deployed to soak up the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill have ended up either in landfills or are destined to be burned for fuel. GM has come up with a way to keep a large chunk of those booms from that same fate by recycling the material into parts for the Chevy Volt.
GM will turn a total of 227 miles worth of oil booms into material for the Volt's air-deflecting baffles that surround the radiator. A centrifuge spins the used booms to release the oil and the plastic material is then processed and remolded to be used in the air deflectors. The program will divert 212,500 pounds of boom waste from landfills.
The air deflectors are made of all recyled materials, including the booms, recycled tires from a GM test facility, recycled packaging plastic from a GM plant and post-consumer recycled plastic.
via Earth 911
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Comments (10)
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written by Thomas - Electriccar, May 29, 2011
Even if I like the volt and think that GM is on the right way with this car, I don´t really think that the use of the oil booms happened just because of the ecological awareness of GM. I´m sure that there are some economic advantages in using this cheap material!
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written by Corina|Electric car, May 29, 2011
Although GM seems to have the right intentions, I don't think that this idea will work. It doesn't feel safe enough.
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written by Andrea, May 31, 2011
GM gets to spend little on materials while simultaneously recycling. Win-win for them. Since they're using cheap materials, hopefully the car itself will be an economic choice for consumers.
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written by Rondini, June 02, 2011
Making landfill turns to new parts ( everywhere ) will help us to recover/sustain healthy enviroment.
Did you plant a new tree today? Go ahead, now is the time!
Did you plant a new tree today? Go ahead, now is the time!
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written by Ramona, June 02, 2011
I think someone at GM has their thinking cap on! This is a great idea and if more companies start looking at how they can exchange with the environment,l we can set this planet on the right track. Unlike moving their Michigan plant to Mexico, this was a great idea. Let's see more of them from GM.
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written by Kate, June 09, 2011
I’m Australian teacher. My grade 4 students (10 years old) have read this article and would like to comment:
The idea was great GM I think it will work. It is much better than putting those big booms in landfill because it will take up heaps of room. Thanks GM.
JS
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GM thanks, your car will be great for the environment because most of the parts from the booms are used again, so it doesn’t go to landfill. The oil spill was bad but because of the booms it helps the environment.
EH
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I think it's great that GM is using recycled booms in car parts and they’re also saving money. Good choice GM.
SL
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GO GM!
I think that this idea is great! It should work too. GM has a great idea up and running! It is also great that you are recycling the plastic oil booms, rather than going to landfill! Great work! (:
JF
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What these amazing people have done is fantastic. They have saved so many animals because of the booms. It’s great to hear that people have reused the booms. I love the animals and the environment so I think what they have done is great. 8D
CR
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Go GM
I think this idea is great. Also it’s great because it’s better than putting booms in landfill.
Thanks a lot GM.
TJ
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I think this idea is great. It’s also really good for the environment, because if you didn’t our planet could be one of the biggest landfill. We could also have really bad gases in the air. GM you are the best.
JH
The idea was great GM I think it will work. It is much better than putting those big booms in landfill because it will take up heaps of room. Thanks GM.
JS
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GM thanks, your car will be great for the environment because most of the parts from the booms are used again, so it doesn’t go to landfill. The oil spill was bad but because of the booms it helps the environment.
EH
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I think it's great that GM is using recycled booms in car parts and they’re also saving money. Good choice GM.
SL
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GO GM!
I think that this idea is great! It should work too. GM has a great idea up and running! It is also great that you are recycling the plastic oil booms, rather than going to landfill! Great work! (:
JF
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What these amazing people have done is fantastic. They have saved so many animals because of the booms. It’s great to hear that people have reused the booms. I love the animals and the environment so I think what they have done is great. 8D
CR
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Go GM
I think this idea is great. Also it’s great because it’s better than putting booms in landfill.
Thanks a lot GM.
TJ
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I think this idea is great. It’s also really good for the environment, because if you didn’t our planet could be one of the biggest landfill. We could also have really bad gases in the air. GM you are the best.
JH
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written by Kate, June 10, 2011
Here are some more comments from my class of grade 4s in Australia:
Go GM
GM is doing a really good job recycling booms because it must cost a lot of money. Why didn't GM recycle all of them?
B.S.
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Go GM.
I think it is a great idea about recycling the booms for the air deflector. It is perfectly safe even though it has recycled materials. It is only a tiny part of the car. At least some of the booms are going to be recycled and not put into landfill. You made a great a choice. Go GM!
M.Z.
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Recycling
I think it is a brilliant idea to recycle them!
If the pieces are making bits for electric cars I think it is great!
EH
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Why is it bad? It isn't!
I think GM has done an excellent thing and more companies should follow. So what, it's already been used. It is still usable and besides, it's just a bit of plastic on a small part of the car so it can't be dangerous! Thanks GM!
B) 
BF
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Recycling
I think it is a fantastic idea to do it.
It is good because at least you’re recycling them.
You don't want them ending up in landfill.
SR
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Why are you scared about the Chevy Volt?
Just because the booms are recycled doesn't make the car any less safer. Paper gets weaker the more it is recycled. So why are you worried about the Chevy Volt safety?
N F
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Go GM
I think it's a great idea to recycle the majority of used booms to stop them going to landfill and being burned up. It's a very environmentally friendly way to use this material. Why is GM using this recycled material? Doesn't it cost more to recycle all this plastic? Some of your consumers are a bit worried about the quality.
KH
Go GM
GM is doing a really good job recycling booms because it must cost a lot of money. Why didn't GM recycle all of them?
B.S.
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Go GM.
I think it is a great idea about recycling the booms for the air deflector. It is perfectly safe even though it has recycled materials. It is only a tiny part of the car. At least some of the booms are going to be recycled and not put into landfill. You made a great a choice. Go GM!
M.Z.
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Recycling
I think it is a brilliant idea to recycle them!
If the pieces are making bits for electric cars I think it is great!
EH
---
Why is it bad? It isn't!
I think GM has done an excellent thing and more companies should follow. So what, it's already been used. It is still usable and besides, it's just a bit of plastic on a small part of the car so it can't be dangerous! Thanks GM!
B) BF
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Recycling
I think it is a fantastic idea to do it.
It is good because at least you’re recycling them.
You don't want them ending up in landfill.
SR
---
Why are you scared about the Chevy Volt?
Just because the booms are recycled doesn't make the car any less safer. Paper gets weaker the more it is recycled. So why are you worried about the Chevy Volt safety?
N F
---
Go GM
I think it's a great idea to recycle the majority of used booms to stop them going to landfill and being burned up. It's a very environmentally friendly way to use this material. Why is GM using this recycled material? Doesn't it cost more to recycle all this plastic? Some of your consumers are a bit worried about the quality.
KH
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