EcoHub News

ECOHUB IN THE NEWS AND UPDATES ON PROJECTS AROUND THE COUNTRY

Newly Uncovered City Emails show “Smoking Gun” of Rigged Recycling Bid Against EcoHub (06/28/19)


THE CITY HAS LOST TWICE IN COURT TRYING TO APPEAL JUDGES’ ORDERS TO RELEASE CITY EMPLOYEE EMAILS RELATED TO THE DECISION TO KILL THE ECOHUB RFP AWARD IN FAVOR OF A PRE-SELECTED WINNER OF AN INFERIOR ALTERNATIVE.

Dolcefino Consulting Files Criminal Complaint Against Mayor Sylvester Turner (01/10/18)


In January 2018, the Houston City Council voted to approve the recycling deal with FCC, despite evidence the city rigged the bid to exclude EcoHub. Shortly thereafter, Dolcefino Consulting filed a criminal complaint filing against Mayor Sylvester Turner, accusing him of illegally withholding public e-mails with his political confidante Maya Ford, who detailed possible ethical misconduct by city garbage boss Harry Hayes and big landfill companies in the course of developing the RFP, even while the City ostensibly was negotiating with EcoHub. Even the day before the RFP documents were released, emails between top city officials warned that the RFP would exclude companies.

Houston’s One Bin for All 2013 Bloomberg Mayor’s Challenge Winner


ONE BIN FOR ALL WAS THE ‘FAN FAVORITE’ MAYORS CHALLENGE PROPOSAL FOR 2013.


LEARN MORE ABOUT HOUSTON’S ONE BIN FOR ALL PROGRAM FROM THE CITY WEBSITE.

 

CLICK HERE TO SEE ECOHUB’S SUBMISSION TO THE BLOOMBERG MAYOR’S CHALLENGE AND ITS SELECTION AS THE WINNER OF HOUSTON’S ONE BIN FOR ALL RFP.

The Ongoing Saga of EcoHub in Houston (09/18/17)


AWARD-WINNING INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST, WAYNE DOLCEFINO, UNRAVELS THE STINKING MESS OF BRINGING A ZERO WASTE SOLUTION TO HOUSTON.

EcoHub Founder & CEO George Gitschel’s Interview with Michael Berry (07/24/17)


George gives Michael the scoop on EcoHub’s mission to transform the industry from Take-Make-Waste into a Circular Integration model of Sustainable Materials Management and how these efforts to make Houston a leader in the field have been stymied by government and private sector opponents alike.

ECOHUB IN THE NEWS AND UPDATES ON PROJECTS AROUND THE COUNTRY


The following was sent out from Houston Mayoral Candidate Tony Buzbee’s campaign on March 26, 2019.

Let’s talk trash. No, I’m not talking about picking up your solid waste or recyclables on time—which we must do, and will do, when I’m mayor. I’m instead talking about something much different. What if I told you we can make Houston completely waste free in little more than five years? What I mean by “waste free” is that we eliminate landfills, and instead completely recycle in Houston and sell almost 100% of all waste that the City of Houston and surrounding areas produce. Sound too good to be true, or pie in the sky? I don’t think so. We can do it and will do it when I’m your mayor.

 

Houston produces thousands of tons of waste per day. More than two thirds of Houston residents use the city’s trash service. That’s around 376,000 households. The rest of Houston pays for private pickup, but no matter who picks it up, the waste itself is handled in the same way.

 

The city picks up solid waste once per week—when it actually picks it up. All of the solid waste is buried at multiple landfills around the perimeter of the city. And, again, when it picks it up, the city picks up the recycling twice a month. At best, 30% of the “recyclables” picked up by the city actually get recycled with the remainder going into landfills. Of the portion that is actually recycled, it has in the past been sold to China and India. Recently, both China and India have indicated that they will no longer purchase waste from other countries. It remains to be seen whether any of the so-called “recyclables” are actually being recycled now that China and India have taken this action. Finally, just for sake of completeness, the city also picks up larger waste (“heavy trash”) once a month; all of that waste is again… put into landfills. Around the perimeter of the city, we have multiple landfills, and multiple transit stations for this trash—all operated by private companies who contract with the city. Needless to say we spend millions on dealing with the thousands and thousands of tons of waste Houston produces yearly.

 

Proven technology exists today that will allow us to put in place a system such that we recycle almost all of the waste that the city produces. Once recycled, this waste can then be sold. The concept was developed by scientists and engineers at a private company and is called Ecohub. The Ecohub concept has been around for many years. It is the subject of many patents. It has private equity backing. The best part is that an Ecohub can be put in place, while Houston continues to handle waste the way it is handled now, until Ecohub is up and running. Because nothing would change until the Ecohub system was up and running, and because private money would be financing the project, there would be no downside risk to Houston. All of the money required to get Ecohub up and running is private money; if it doesn’t work, we are still in the same boat as we were before. And you want to hear the best part? Because with the Ecohub system, Houston would be selling its waste, which would save the city upwards of $40 million a year, not to mention all the money we would save by reducing the amount of trucks we need for pickup,or the money we spend on landfills.

 

What would a concept like Ecohub mean to you? No more sorting of trash; no more multiple bins; just one receptacle, picked up one time a week (“One bin” concept). Once Ecohub is up and running, Houston would be the first city in the country that could tout itself as “waste free.” With Ecohub we could save money and also help our environment. Now that’s something we could all be proud of.

 

You have to be wondering, why haven’t we done this already?!? It’s funny you asked. The company that has this proven technology presented this idea to the city several years ago. But, due to lobbyists and the Mayor’s friends who are connected to the current waste companies doing business with the city, the proposal went nowhere. You can see from this one example that if we truly want to be a city thinking about the future and innovation, we have to clean up City Hall and end the rampant lobbying and corruption. We will end the pay to play system that is ruining our government. We can clean up this city together, both literally and figuratively.


Sincerely,

Tony Buzbee

Candidate for Mayor of Houston


TONY BUZBEE VIDEO ON THE OPPORTUNITY OF ECOHUB

Waste Recycling FAQs

  • Can you tell me more about EcoHub?

    EcoHub is the only sustainable product manufacturer that provides economic development, environmental sustainability, and lower costs to cities, companies, and communities.


    Unlike the world’s current approach to garbage handling, EcoHub views 100% of the waste stream as a resource. That is why we collect every piece of trash in one single bin – no longer do you have to separate plastics or cardboard from food waste, we can do all of that for you. Our sustainable product manufacturing process repurposes nearly 100% of the waste stream into value-added products. By placing the focus on putting every piece of garbage to its highest and best use, EcoHub delivers benefits to both the economy and the environment. This is the beginning of a movement – an Environmental Revolution that changes the way the world consumes and reuses resources. Our goal is to create a waste free world.

  • What is EcoHub's Closed Loop System?

    EcoHub’s closed-loop system provides ultimate sustainability™ and the most environmentally healthy collection path ever conceived.


    It’s all made possible by EcoHub’s model of circular integration™, which takes in 100% of the waste stream as a resource and manufactures it into new sustainable products that can be resold back into the local community. This entire process occurs in one location, providing the greatest environmental benefit, while creating new opportunity for local communities.

  • What are the benefits of EcoHub?

    EcoHub will Reduce Landfilling and/or Recycling Costs by 50% to 75% or more. EcoHub fully monetizes the discarded materials stream through an onsite closed-loop backend manufacturing and conversion technology suite, delivering to existing waste recycling companies and government agencies additional new free cash flow per ton processed.


    EcoHub is Reliable. At the heart of the EcoHub is the MaxDiverter™; the first true automated mixed waste separation system. EcoHub’s MaxDiverter is guaranteed and bonded to mechanically separate and recover all elements of the waste stream at 95%+ performance efficiency to 95%+ purity with 97% operational reliability. Value-added manufacturing processes, which are co-located with the MaxDiverter on our eco-industrial campuses, utilize proven, well-established manufacturing and conversion technologies and NASA-originated technologies repurposed for civilian application.


    Environmental Solution. Each 2,000 ton/day EcoHub will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 2.5 million tons of CO2e. Coupled with emissions reductions from processing recovered vs. virgin materials, these reductions are equivalent of taking up to 800K cars off the road. Eliminating extra collection routes and minimizing the transport of recycled products further reduces emissions and energy use, as well as reduces wear and tear on residential streets.


    Experienced Team. EcoHub’s principals have almost 280 years combined experience in solid waste management, manufacturing, conversion technologies, advanced technology development and deployment, and environmental market transformation. They possess excellent contacts throughout the industry, as well as with municipal and national governments across the world.