- 1996 when ENOX received one of the first Tibbetts Awards. This award recognizes "Models of Excellence" for SBIR projects at the state and local level that are encouraging economic development. ENOX also received the 1995 Massachusetts Small Business
Innovative Research Award and the New Englander Award.
Development and commercialization of the INOx system has resulted in substantial growth of both staff and sales. Since 1990, ENOX has grown from a staff of 3 to a company of 25 employees, with product sales currently estimated at $10 million.
National Recovery Technologies, Inc.
In 1988, EPA awarded National Recovery Technologies, Inc. (NRT), located in Nashville, TN, an SBIR contract to develop a technology that uses an electromagnetic sensor to
- plastics separators, assists in recycling plastic bottles by minimizing the mixing of different types of plastic resins so that they can be more effectively processed into recycled products. The patented NRT VinylCycle® system accepts whole or crushed plastic
bottles as they are fed by a vibrating conveyor. Once inside the machine, the bottles pass over a detector array that can sense the presence of the chlorine atoms in PVC bottles. Air jets are triggered to separate and kick the PVC bottles away from the remaining PET and HDPE containers. The
system can process up to 10 bottles per second. Recycled PET that has been processed by NRT VinylCycle® units is being used in the production of many products—from carpet to clothing.
Environmental Significance. The presence of PVC plastics in the waste stream creates high toxic chlorine emissions when the waste is incinerated. These emissions are eliminated by the VinylCycle® system, which can
