Texas Business Radio Interviews Altiras President Todd Pencarinha

Below is a link to a recent interview I did with Texas Business Radio where I discuss the past, present, and future of Altiras businesses.

Texas Business Radio Interview

The interview can also be viewed directly on the Texas Business Radio website.
Texas Business Radio

Altiras Demonstrates Best in Class Product Stewardship

Product Stewardship is the act of minimizing risk of health, safety, environmental and social impact, and maximizing economic benefits of a product and its packaging throughout all stages of product use, reuse, disposal and/or destruction. The producer of the product has the greatest ability to minimize adverse impacts, but other parties, such as suppliers, retailers, consumers, handlers, and disposal facilities also play a role. Good Product Stewardship is mandated in many large chemical companies, but is rare in smaller companies and very uncommon for companies involved in secondary chemicals such as co-products and byproducts. Altiras is the industry leader for beneficial reuse product stewardship. Click here for more information on Altiras’ Product Stewardship program.

Interview with Voyage Houston Magazine

I was recently asked by Voyage Houston Magazine to speak about Altiras and the great city of Houston TX.  Here is a link to that article.

Todd Pencarinha Profile

Todd Pencarinha is an expert in beneficial reuse, chemical recycling, and product recovery and is currently president of Altiras Holdings in Houston, Texas.  Mr. Pencarinha holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the Ohio State University and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Texas.  Todd began his career at Exxon Chemical Company in a group knows as the Basic Chemicals Technology group in Baytown, TX.  Within the technology group, Pencarinha started as a process engineer in the area of pyrolysis furnace design and troubleshooting and olefins recovery.  He later became a project engineer, continuing to work in olefins hot ends and cold ends.  Pencarinha later served in project management roles with Stone & Webster Engineering and then with Lyondell Chemical Company (now LyondellBasell) in Channelview, Texas. During his time at Lyondell, Todd managed multiple chemical plant development and enhancement projects.  In 1999, Pencarinha took on the management of the company’s 800 MW Channelview Congeneration Project in collaboration with Reliant Energy to take advantage of new Texas energy deregulation laws. Upon successful completion and start-up of the project, in August of 2000, Pencarinha advanced to the position of lead internal business consultant, supporting the company’s executive leaders of three different business units: Oxygenated Fuels including MTBE, Styrene Monomer and Aromatics, and Toluene Diisocyanate (TDI).

After five years at Lyondell, Pencarinha co-founded his first beneficial reuse company in January 2003.  That company was Emergent Industrial Solutions.  At Emergent, Pencarinha developed processes and methodologies for safe, legitimate, and responsible beneficial reuse of coproduct chemicals, byproduct chemicals, and previously used chemicals.  Over the course of eight years, Mr. Pencarinha continually refined the business model and grew the business from nothing to nearly $10 million in annual sales.  Pencarinha staffed and trained the company’s sales team, developed safety protocols, established a product stewardship program, managed marketing, and directed all business operations related to beneficial use activities.

In December 2010, in order to grow a more national and professional business, Pencarinha joined with long-time friend and fellow entrepreneur Steven Marshall to found Altiras Industrial Services.  Altiras started as a company focused buying and selling used, coproduct, and byproduct chemicals and petroleum products “as is” to companies that could use them without modification.  The company also provided industrial waste services for small and mid-sized waste generators in the US gulf coast.  In 2013, Pencarinha and Marshall decided to re-structure the company for better branding and to better segregate the various business interests of the company.  At that time, Altiras Holdings was created as the parent company, Altiras Industrial Services became the entity focused on providing industrial waste services, and Altiras Chemicals and Altiras Fuels were created to serve the chemicals and fuels markets, respectively.  At the same time, Pencarinha and Marshall also saw the need to create another new company, Altiras Recovery, to focus on beneficial reuse opportunities where materials could not be used “as is”.  Altiras Recovery was created to provide research, development, and capital to unlock intrinsic value from materials that would otherwise be waste.  All four of the operating companies (Chemicals, Fuels, Industrial Services, and Recovery) became wholly owned subsidiaries of Altiras Holdings.  Pencarinha became president of the parent company and Marshall serves as Chief Executive Officer.  In 2016, the company added Altiras Energy as a fifth subsidiary, which focuses on export of alternative fuel and energy products such as distillate blendstocks, petcoke, and biosolids to markets in Mexico and Asia.

Mr. Pencarinha has spent his entire career in the chemical industry developing projects and new business opportunities. His areas of expertise include chemical recycling and beneficial reuse, waste reduction and waste minimization, sustainability in secondary chemicals, and beneficial recovery of otherwise unusable products, to name just a few.

Both Todd Pencarinha and Steven Marshall serve on Altiras’ Board and both reside in Houston, TX.  For more information on either Pencarinha or Marshall, please call 713-568-3861 or email Altiras at info@altiras.com

New Changes to Requirements for Hazardous Waste Generators now in Effect

We previously did a series of blogs (www.altiras.com/blog) to explain the upcoming changes to RCRA regulations that will impact generators of hazardous wastes.  The changes went into effect on May 30, 2017.  The eight areas of change are:

1. Reorganization of the Hazardous Waste Generator Regulations and modifies the organization of the Preamble.
2. Changes to 40 CFR Part 260, which covers definitions
3. Changes to 40 CFR Part 261, requiring biennial reporting by facilities that recycle hazardous waste without storing it.
4. Changes to 40 CFR Part 262, which covers the standards applicable to generators of hazardous waste
5. Additional changes to 40 CFR Part 262 for generators that would ordinarily have changed status due to an episodic event
6. Additional changes to 40 CFR Part 262 clarifying expectations related to Preparedness, Prevention, and Emergency Procedures for SQG’s and LQG’s
7. Technical corrections and changes to 40 CFR Part 257
8. New discussion of “Electronic Tools to Streamline Hazardous Waste Reporting and Record keeping Requirements”

If you missed our prior blogs, you can look for them in our archives.  For more information about these changes, please contact Todd Pencarinha at 713-568-3651 or at info@altiras.com

Matching Supply and Demand of Secondary Chemicals and Fuels

Todd Pencarinha currently serves as president of Altiras, a Houston, Texas-based company that provides beneficial reuse solutions to create value from chemicals and fuels that would have otherwise ended up as waste. With five subsidiaries, Altiras targets different markets within the beneficial reuse space. Previously known as Altiras Industrial Services, Todd Pencarinha’s firm developed its own custom developed Intranet system to known as AltNet.

AltNet uses a proprietary matching algorithm that registers and matches supply and demand of different secondary chemicals and fuels. The company’s in-house development team leveraged technological advancement and historical beneficial use experience to come up with the product. According to Mr. Pencarinha, the system is superior to anything else in the marketplace and is expected to yield substantial benefits to the Altiras sales and marketing teams.

This leading-edge product is now helping Altiras improve its distribution efficiency in the secondary chemicals and fuels markets. System enhancements have also been planned to further improve the platform’s effectiveness.

Altiras Recovery Develops Process to Create Crude Oil Asphalt Binder

Todd Pencarinha is a Texas-based professional with nearly three decades of experience in project management, chemical engineering, and business development. Since December of 2010, Todd Pencarinha has served as president of Altiras, a company that develops beneficial use/reuse solutions for chemicals and petroleum products from businesses in a variety of sectors. 

Altiras has made significant advances in sustainable chemical management and beneficial reuse, leveraging existing reuse strategies and developing innovative new processes. In 2015, Altiras subsidiary Altiras Recovery announced the development of a proprietary process that extracts heavy crude oil from bodies of water while creating a useful new by-product. 

Altiras Recovery developed the innovation to aid the cleanup of Mexican lagoons heavily impacted by oil spills and dumping practices before modern environmental regulations. In one site spanning 600 acres, the pond contained an astonishing 400,000 cubic meters of Mexican crude oil before cleanup efforts began. Altiras Recovery developed proprietary methods to efficiently extract the heavy crude oil while removing water and solids, and another process to convert the crude oil into a usable asphalt binder, thereby benefiting the environment while helping create high-quality road materials.

Corporate Environmental Stewardship Has Positive Effects

In recent years, corporations have taken a more active role in the fight to protect the environment. This is largely due to the fact that individuals and communities have become much more environmentally aware. Also important is the fact that Generation Z and the Millennial generation have expressed a preference to work for and to consume products from businesses that offer sustainable products or that have incorporated sustainability into their corporate culture or operations. One such company that takes an active role in protecting the environment is beneficial reuse firm Altiras, located in Houston, TX. 

We recently spoke with Todd Pencarinha, President of Altiras. According to Mr. Pencarinha, "Altiras is a B2B company, so it is not where you would expect to look when seeking companies that provide significant benefit to communities. However, the very nature of our business provides tangible benefits to those around us, not just our suppliers and customers." When providing services to clients, Todd Pencarinha and the team at Altiras abide by a set of core values. One of those values is a responsibility to conduct business in a way that promotes the health of the environment. Through the company's industry leading beneficial reuse strategies, Mr. Pencarinha states "Altiras is one of those unique companies that benefits the environment and communities by the very nature of what it does. By developing beneficial reuse projects, Altiras directly reduces waste for it's suppliers, provides cost savings for its customers, and reduces the carbon footprint for both." Among the more popular trends in environmental stewardship among businesses is the redevelopment of supply chains to incorporate more sustainable practices, including the reduction of raw material, water, and energy use. Pencarinha goes on to say "Altiras allows its customers and suppliers to change their supply chains in such a way that they, and even nearby communities, benefit by lower carbon footprint, lower energy use, reduced air emissions, and reduced risk of land, groundwater or other environmental contamination."

Conservationism and environmental stewardship in corporate America are attracting more scrutiny, thus the implementation of sustainable practices and beneficial use strategies play a critical role. Todd Pencarinha believes that companies like Altiras will play a key role in near future of American business by helping businesses eliminate waste, minimize environmental risks, cut costs, improve efficiency, and retain conscientious employees.

Effective Waste Management

Todd Pencarinha is the president of the Houston, Texas-based industrial reuse firm Altiras. A chemical engineering graduate with distinction of the Ohio State University, Todd Pencarinha has led Altiras to establish industry best practices in quality assurance and product stewardship involving the beneficial use of materials that would otherwise be considered solid wastes.

    According to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), unless specifically excluded by the regulations, a solid waste is defined as any discarded material that is abandoned, recycled, considered inherently waste-like, or military munitions. However, the RCRA definitions are very specific and often do not match the Webster’s dictionary definitions. For example, the definition of “abandoned” includes disposal, burning or incineration, or even accumulating, storing or treating these materials.

    Similarly, “solid wastes” are not always solid, but are described as such since RCRA has separate regulations for air and water pollution. The RCRA definition includes liquids, semi-solids, and contained gasses. Examples of solid waste include everyday garbage, as well as industry-specific materials such as sludge from a wastewater treatment plant, waste chemicals, and used solvents.

    The RCRA definition of “recycling” can also be confusing since it includes direct reuse, although direct reuse can allow for exclusion from solid waste regulation.

    Are you confused yet? If you are, then you are among good company. The RCRA regulations are not easy to interpret and can take years to master. Once mastered, don’t worry, they will be changed again.