Corporate Responsibility

The Power of Garbage – Alternative Energy and Reduced Emissions Through LOMAX™ Technology

Styron’s latex plant in Dalton, Georgia, USA, runs almost entirely on alternative energy and significantly reduces CO₂ and greenhouse gas emissions, thanks to LOMAX™ Technology. Named for its focus on delivering materials with LOwer environmental impact with MAXimum performance, LOMAX Technology uses methane gas collected from a nearby landfill as the primary energy source to manufacture Styron’s latex for carpet backing and reducing the product’s carbon footprint by 25 percent.⁽²¹⁾ 

The methane gas (approximately 117 billion BTUs worth per year) is piped to a Landfill Gas Energy Recovery facility and then to the Styron plant, where the energy is used to power the plant’s boiler, substantially reducing the need for natural gas. The resulting power runs over 80 percent of the plant’s steam boiler and represents over half of the overall energy used to manufacture latex at the facility.

And, because the methane is being harnessed for energy instead of being released into the atmosphere, the use of LOMAX Technology has reduced emissions at the plant by more than 37 million pounds in CO₂ equivalents since 2008. That’s comparable to eliminating the use of over 1,895,000 gallons of gasoline or removing over 3,100 cars from the road.