According to the Associated Press, Four Loko and other alcoholic energy drinks are being recycled into ethanol and other products after being deemed too dangerous for consumption. Wholesalers from Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland and other East Coast states have been sending cases of the beverages to MXI Environmental Services after they were banned from selling them in stores.
MXI Enterprises is one of three facilities in the United States that recycle ethanol. Brian Potter, vice president of operations at MXI’s facility in Abingdon, VA, said a couple of hundred truckloads of the drinks would be coming to the plant, and each truck holds 2,000 cases of the 23.5-ounce cans.
MXI distills the alcohol from the drinks, and then sells the fuel to be blended into gasoline, according to Potter. Then the aluminum cans are sold to a recycler. Potter estimates that it takes about 30 days until it’s back on the shelf as another beer can. The water, cardboard packaging, and shipping pallets are also recycled.
“These are actually things that could go directly into a landfill or incinerator or some other waste process that’s not as environmentally friendly, so I think it’s a good thing,” he said.
