-By AnnMarie Marano

Sometimes, you have to start small. Ofer Mizrahi, founder of Miami-based Coverings ETC realized that when he started to develop the recycling technologies that would produce two of the company’s sustainable home runs: Bio-Glass™ and Bio-Luminum™.

Although these surfacing materials are not in mass production yet, they’re certainly on their way. Representing a next generation approach to manufacturing, Coverings offers these two lines that are both 100 percent recycled and 100 percent recyclable products. As if that weren’t enough, there are no additives whatsoever—that includes resins, filters, colorants and beyond. Bio-Luminum is comprised of 100 percent post-consumer recycled aluminum taken from airplane graveyards all over the globe, and Bio-Glass is 100 percent post-consumer recycled glass bottles.

Annapolis, M.D.-based Alliance Architecture utilized Bio-Glass in the reception area of LEED-certified law firm Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge (EAPD) in Hartford, Conn. According to senior principal Phil Olson, the back-lit panels, which covered a 60-ft. long by 8-ft.-high wall behind the reception desk, created the desired dramatics they were looking for, making the unique texture of the glass even more powerful.

“We created a 10-in. cavity behind the Bio-Glass that is accessed via hinged lacquer panels at the ends of each segment. A continuous fluorescent strip light fixture was mounted on a sliding track on the floor for lamp replacement. The effect is very uniform as the Bio-Glass disperses the light extremely well,” Olson says.

As for Bio-Luminum, “it started as a joke,” says Mizrahi. Thanks to an affiliated company that does work with third-world countries, the idea came about to retrieve fuselages from aircraft graveyards and melt them down. Mizrahi says he hopes to have both Bio-Luminum and Bio-Glass to the point where they’re produced only locally.

“We’re working with certain cities and manufacturers of different drinks,” Mizrahi says of Bio-Glass. “I’m hoping that by the beginning of next year we can have partnerships with manufacturers who can collect the bottles themselves, creating green jobs and keeping them out of the landfill.”