Our Truck Blow Off System (TBOS) was launched in 2020 with the goal of helping the plastics and logistics industries address plastic pellet pollution. TBOS is a system for tanker cleaning and removes over 90%+ of plastic and other debris from the surface of tankers before they leave logistics stations.
Plastic (Nurdle) Pollution
Plastic pellet pollution is only getting more critical - in March 2022, the UK news reporter The Guardian published a story on how microplastics have been found in human blood for the first time.
Scientists from Amsterdam analysed 22 anonymous donor samples and found microplastics in 80% of the samples. Of the 22 samples, a quarter were found to have the microplastic polyethylene in them.
Polyethylene is commonly used to make "nurdles", which is the name given to pre-production plastic pellets used to make plastic products. Typically the size of lentils, nurdles are a serious contributor to toxic plastic environmental waste.
Stopping nurdles entering the environment
Plastic however remains an "incredibly useful product" and so plastic producers are being urged to address the problem of nurdles entering the environment, and to take responsibility for nurdle pollution.
"The Great Nurdle Hunt", a project established by the charity Fidra, estimates that over 360 million tonnes of plastic was produced in 2021, (more than the total weight of the human population!) and that as much as 230,000 tonnes of nurdles are now entering the oceans every year.
Nurdles are being lost across the whole supply chain, from plastic manufacturers to transporters and distributors, and this has led to lawsuits for major companies.
"TBOS removes over 90%+ of nurdles and other debris from the surface of tankers before they leave logistics stations." - SolvAir
Operation Clean Sweep®, set up in 1991 to help the plastics industry move towards zero pellet flake and powder discharge, sets out that pellet containment practices in the movement of plastic pellets is key to minimising nurdle loss and pollution to the environment.
SolvAir are signatories to OCS. TBOS enables companies to meet OCS guidelines.
Waterless plastic spillage removal from transport
SolvAir's Truck Blow-Off System (TBOS) has been specifically designed to remove plastic spillage from trucks & tankers during filling. TBOS is an automatic, turnkey, "off the shelf" system which can be installed into existing sites without disruption, does not need manpower to run, and requires minimal maintenance. As TBOS does not use water, this also means there is no need for wash down or expensive water filtration, and it keeps nurdles out of water supplies at source.
Remove 90%+ of nurdles from tankers & trucks
TBOS uses high-speed blowers to sweep the outer surface of tankers, and with powerful airstreams in excess of 700 KPH at the nozzle aperture removes 90%+ of nurdles from the surfaces of tankers and trucks. The nurdles can then be easily contained, preventing release into the environment. TBOS is highly effective at cleaning tankers, even in hard to reach areas such as wheel arches. As well as this, TBOS is engineered to easily integrate with bulk material distribution sites for the logistics industry removing spillage from trucks before leaving the terminals.
Operation Clean Sweep best practice
TBOS is designed to meet environmental best practice as set out in Operation Clean Sweep® guidelines and is the leading system for plastic pellet (nurdle) removal from transport.
