History

The Eco>Absorb™ story actually began over 20 years ago when Michael Shannon started Shannon Diversified Inc. Shannon Diversified still operates today as one of the West Coast leaders in industrial hood cleaning services for the restaurant industry. As part of the cleaning process service technicians often used an absorbents to pick up oils and greases from the restaurants they were cleaning. In fact, they started using so much absorbent that Michael Shannon became a distributor.

It was not long however, before Michael started realizing the limitations of the product and how dusty it became over time. If the absorbent was left open for any period of time it would dry out and become difficult to use and sweep. That is when Michael started working on ways to keep the product permanently dust free without reducing its absorption ability. He enlisted chemists, engineers, and spent hours working on a formula to meet these demands while still remaining all-natural and green. Finally, after over a year in research and development a significant breakthrough had been made. This proprietary formula launched a new and improved absorbent material.

Michael was not satisfied though. Before he launched a new product he wanted to ensure that it met all of the environmental and safety standards available. Michael sent a sample to a chemical analysis company who tested its toxicity, water content, absorption ability, and several other factors. Michael tested the products leaching properties to make sure it was landfill safe. Then he sent samples to NSF International to have it certified for its safety around food products. And finally the Organic Materials Review Institute gave the product its seal of approval and listed the product for being an all-natural absorbent. Eco>Absorb™ was born, and Eco-Absorbent Technologies was Incorporated in 2007. An all natural, non-toxic, landfill safe absorption product that would not dry out had finally arrived.

Michael realized that Eco>Absorb™ faced a tough uphill battle against entrenched absorbents like clay. Despite having crystalline silica (an IARC Group 1 Carcinogen) and doing a very poor job of absorbing clay based products still dominated the market and were very inexpensive. So Michael invested heavily to cut costs and automate their manufacturing facility to make sure Eco>Absorb™ was as affordable as possible. Now through automation, 850 four quart bags of Eco>Absorb™ can flow off the conveyor belt every hour. This helped significantly reduce labor costs and bring the price of Eco>Absorb™ down so it could compete with clay in price and still outperform any other absorbent on the market.

As Eco>Absorb™ began to serve the industrial community, additional products were developed such as Bio Hazard Kits, Truck Kits, Acid/Base Neutralizers, Spill Centers, and Emergency Response Kits. In addition to providing Eco>Absorb™ to commercial companies, Michael found that he used it more and more in his own home instead of paper towels. Packing options were developed so that Eco>Absorb™ could be sold in industrial quantities and could also be provided to individual consumers for their personal use.

The story of Eco>Absorb™ is still being written. We are a young company but so much has been accomplish in the few years since we began. The future is bright and Eco>Absorb™ is now poised to revolutionize the spill cleanup industry in an environmentally friendly manner. With every bag of Eco>Absorb™ you purchase, you become part of our continued history.