PORT ANGELES — Port of Port Angeles Commissioner Colleen McAleer will travel to Washington, D.C., to testify Tuesday for a composites-recycling demonstration project proposed by Sen. Maria Cantwell.
McAleer said it is “possible” such a project could be located at the Composite Recycling Technology Center planned at William R. Fairchild International Airport, where construction could start as early as next month.
She will present a written statement to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, give oral testimony for five minutes and answer questions.
She will be among six witnesses who will include an undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Energy.
A committee staff member, Rosemarie Calabro Tully, told the Peninsula Daily News, “The Port of Port Angeles could be a site” for the demonstration project, “based on the work they are doing with carbon-fiber composites.
“In fact, one bill directs collaboration with both the aviation and automotive industries, and the Port of Port Angeles has experience with both,” she said.
“Although the process will be competitive and open to sites nationwide, Sen. Cantwell remains committed to working to build the next generation of manufacturing jobs in Washington,” Tully said.
McAleer will fly to the nation’s capital early Sunday with expenses — estimated at less than $1,000 — paid by the port. She will return Wednesday. She said she would stay with friends to save money.
Backs two bills
She will testify in support of two bills, both sponsored by Cantwell, D-Mountlake Terrace.
The first, Senate Bill 1304, the 21st Century Energy Workforce Act, would direct the secretary of Energy to establish training programs at institutions like Peninsula College to develop a clean-energy workforce.
The federal government would fund 65 percent of the training.
The second, Senate Bill 1432, the Carbon Fiber Recycling Act, would direct the secretary of Energy to study the technology, energy savings and economic impact of recycling carbon-fiber composites; to issue a report within a year; and to work with the aviation and automotive industries to develop a demonstration project.
The study and demonstration project would be supervised by the Advanced Manufacturing Office of the federal Department of Energy with a $10 million appropriation.
McAleer testimony
McAleer said her testimony would touch on partnerships and technology transfers the port has struck with public agencies and private firms as it has pursued the composites-recycling project, on the need for education and investment to develop a skilled workforce, and on international markets for recycled carbon-fiber composites.
“Sen. Cantwell is very much a supporter of advanced manufacturing that supports exports and the growth of our national economy,” McAleer said Thursday.
“She believes [the Composite Recycling Technology Center] is a great example of how a small community can take advantage of advanced manufacturing, not just at a local level but at a state and national level.
“She wants me to help her tell her story.”
Center garners funds
McAleer has been a proponent since 2012 of a center to recycle uncured carbon-fiber composite material, called prepreg, that Washington state manufacturers currently send to landfills at a rate of 2 million pounds a year.
The proposed recycling center in a building at 2220 W. 18th St. at Fairchild airport also would house Peninsula College composites labs and classrooms, and could provide startup space for manufacturers.
The port has allocated $190,000 to design the interior of the 25,000-square-foot building that is presently a shell.
It would join a “composites campus” that already is anchored by Angeles Composites Technologies Inc. and Westport LLC cabinet shops.
The project has received preliminary notification of nearly $3 million in grants from federal, state and county sources so far, with an application pending for $1.4 million more in state funds and the port pledging the remainder of the estimated $5.4 million cost.
Some of that would be defrayed by in-kind contributions from the college, Clallam County and the city of Port Angeles.
SB 1304 notes that 30 percent of uncured carbon-fiber composite trimmings are discarded, although recycling them uses one-tenth the energy of producing new material and costs up to 40 percent less.
The port’s recycling center would capture waste material from Puget Sound aerospace industries, transport it to Port Angeles by truck and recycle it.
The port also could provide space at the airport for companies to manufacture items such as automobile instrument panels, bicycle frames, computer cases and surfboards and snowboards from the recycled carbon fiber, which is lightweight and stronger than injection-molded plastic.
According to Jennifer States, the port’s director of business development, the center would employ up to six people at the outset.
The workforce could grow to 111 within five years, with incomes ranging from $35,000 to $72,000.
McAleer will report on her visit to D.C. at the port commissioners’ next meeting, rescheduled from Tuesday morning to 9 a.m. June 12 in port headquarters, 338 W. First St., Port Angeles.
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Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladailynews.com.
