Recycler turns to biodiesel

If you happen to catch a strong whiff of French fries while you're driving around town this summer, it's not just because you're craving fried food.

Cory Cullen, owner/operator of New World Recycling in Whitefish, is converting his truck to run on biofuel made from the leftover vegetable oil from local restaurants.

"I'm going to be very close to being a completely 'green' company," he said. "Last year, I spent $7,800 on fuel, and that's money that goes towards nothing positive. So it's going to be quite a raise for me."

For the last seven years, Cullen has been picking up recyclable materials all over the valley and taking them to Valley Recycling in Kalispell.

His business has grown steadily over that time, starting from mainly residential pick-ups to include several major businesses like North Valley Hospital, Mountain View Manor, Wasabi Sushi Bar, and Craggy Range Bar and Grill.

Cullen said he makes around 320 pick-ups a month around the valley, including 625 thirty-two-gallon garbage cans full of glass, 300 cans of paper, 100 total refrigerator boxes of No. 1 and No. 2 plastic, 25 boxes of aluminum, 30 boxes of steel and 10 truckloads of cardboard.

"I use 80 gallons a week of fuel, so the conversion to vegetable oil is not only going to save money, but it will save local businesses from paying a company to take their leftover grease," he said.

Cullen is going to take his painted-over '93 U-Haul truck to Northridge Auto next week to have it converted to run on biodiesel.

"Dan Green at North-ridge has knowledge of this type of thing," Cullen explained. "He's going to cut a section out of the truck and put in a 40-gallon tank. Then he's going to put heating coils around the tank, and put hoses that will circulate heated fluid from the radiator around the vegetable oil."

Because biodiesel coagulates when it is lower than about 65-degrees Fahrenheit, Cullen said the heating system is his main priority.

"I wanted to be able to operate on biofuel year-round, even on cold mornings," he said. "I wanted something permanent that I could do 12 months a year. A lot of old Volvos and other cars just run in the summer. I decided if I'm going to tell people I have a green company, then I don't want them seeing me at the gas station six months later."

After Cullen picks up grease from a local business like Wasabi, he will take it home and run it through a specially designed filter before putting it in a storage tank. He will use a special converter kit to turn the grease into biodiesel.

"I hope to set up a kit on my property so I can mass produce it and sell it for $2 a gallon," he said.

Cullen is able to keep his pick-up fees low ($10-$15 a month) because he works alone and saves energy whenever he can.

"It's a seven-day-a-week operation, but I like it," he said. "I make a better boss than an employee."

Cullen also operates a glass pulverizer at his home and sells the ground glass to home-remodelers for use in countertops. He can usually be found collecting glass at the farmers market in Whitefish during the summer.

"I get 40-50 thirty-two-gallon garbage cans of bottles a week from some businesses," he said.

For more information, call Cullen at 257-7855 or visit www.newworldrecycling.com.