The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Inc. (ISRI) leads the way in advocating the vital role scrap recycling plays in the US economy, global trade, the environment, and sustainable development, and for more than two decades, the ISRI has promoted Design for Recycling®, a voluntary program that encourages manufacturers to fully consider end-of-life recyclability in the earliest stages of product design.
ISRI established the Design for Recycling® award, to honour a program, company or individual whose product or program design has incorporated one or more of the following: a) a reduction in the number of different recyclable materials, b) a reduction or elimination of hazardous constituents, c) an increased yield of the product's recyclables, d) an improvement in the safety of recycling, and e) a design that allows for easy disassembly for recycling.
Wind Simplicity, Inc has advanced to the final selection round in the 2010 Design for Recycling® competition. It was chosen as a finalist for its commitment to recycling in its design and manufacture of the high-efficiency, compact, noise-free Windancer small wind turbine (3 kW, 7 kW or 23 kW).
Made mainly of recyclable aluminium and steel, Wind Simplicity’s Windancer can be easily repaired, reconditioned and recycled at the end of its long life.
“The Windancer took inspiration from the longevity of the old Dutch and prairie farm wind mills. Most wind turbine blades are made of hard-to-recycle composites that end up in landfill or incinerators. Aluminium is easy to recycle, has a cradle-to-cradle life cycle and monetary value,” said Wind Simplicity C.E.O. and Inventor, Sharolyn Vettese, a long-time environmentalist, who co-designed the Windancer with her father Dr. Alfred Mathieu.
“Through our choice of materials and production processes we set out to minimise the use of hazardous constituents and toxic air emissions and solvents that can impact the environment and workers,” she explained, “Being in the renewable energy business, it was important for us to design the Windancer with a sustainable life-cycle in mind right from the outset."
Ms. Vettese added that she was delighted to receive the nomination from the ISRI. Since Wind Simplicity’s inception in 2004, the company has won three awards including the National Energy Globe Award 2009,1st Place Green Dot Award 2008 and the Gold Design Exchange Award in Engineering 2007 for its innovative Windancer small wind turbine.
In 2009 Wind Simplicity was also a finalist in the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Regional Innovation Award for New Technology (NRC IRAP).
This year Wind Simplicity was on the short list along with Cascades Fine Papers Group and Coca Cola. In 2009, ISRI honoured prestigious furniture manufacturer Herman Miller with the Design for Recycling® Award.
For additional information:
Institute of Scrap Recycling Industry, Inc
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