In the early 1990s, people at ITU, Inc in New Berlin, WI, began looking into the needs of manufacturers for a better way of handling the oily waste that they generally had been sending to landfills. ITU, owned by the Leef family, had decades of experience in serving the manufacturers in Wisconsin and Illinois with textile rental services. One of those services was industrial shop towels. ITU cleaned and returned those towels for use and again and again.

During that period, what happened to the oils, greases and solvents after washing them out of the dirty towels was becoming a much greater concern. ITU pioneered methods to wash towels and capture the oils and solvents in ways that they could be recovered and eventually re-used – not sent to sewers or landfills.

That process led to research into launderable, reusable absorbent products. The resulting line of products are today known as SorbIts^® – the Waste Free Absorbent System.

In 1996, AbsorbTech, LLC was formed and a plant opened in South Bend, Indiana to process and distribute SorbIts^®. Since that time, AbsorbTech has led the way to new innovations in SorbIts^® products and methods for cleaning them ever more efficiently.

The AbsorbTech facility was first ISO certified in 1997, and has retained certification ever since. Currently, AbsorbTech is ISO 9001:2000 and 14001:2004 certified. Through mid 2006, there has never been a lost time injury at AbsorbTech.

Acquisitions in Philadelphia and Greenville SC have expanded the AbsorbTech service area to almost all of the eastern half of the US.  AbsorbTech has grown to a staff of about 75 and keeps growing!

AbsorbTech is dedicated to assisting companies in finding ways to eliminate waste. The SorbIts^® product line is just the way to do that. AbsorbTech also cleans gloves, filtering materials, protective clothing and other items for companies that allow them to be reused, rather than discarded.

Beyond that, AbsorbTech delivers Managed Programs, designed to eliminate time and paperwork in administering and monitoring programs. The AbsorbTech process provides valuable information to customers on their programs, through the AbsorbTech Route Service Network, assigned Account Executives and the Customer Response Center in South Bend.

AbsorbTech… Certified Waste Reduction Processes

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