Tim Huff used his knowledge of plastics and chemistry to invent a green alternative to plastic water bottles. His journey began four years ago to find a solution after seeing pollution around the world.
“Over 90% of plastics aren’t being recycled in the Unites States and worldwide, 40 billion plastic water bottles alone end up in US landfills,” said Tim Huff, founder of Colorado Clean. “I decided to dedicate my life to coming up with a greener alternative to the plastic bottle that we see everywhere on the sides of roads polluting our great country.”
After extensive development and testing, Huff developed a biodegradable and recyclable water container, Colorado Clear’s Amphora bottle. It is 100% recyclable, freezable with a 10-year shelf life and is biodegradable in approximately three years. According to Colorado Clean, typical plastic bottles take more than 750 years to biodegrade.
“The whole point of our company is making Colorado better, and in turn, hopefully making the world better,” said Huff.
In February 2016, Colorado Clean was approved by the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade to become part of a new and unique tax relief program. The Rural Jump-Start program allows Colorado Clean to operate virtually tax free for up to eight years in Mesa County, Colorado. This honor led to global recognition, and being invited to the Green Expo in Mexico City.
“If it wasn’t for that, there’s no way we would have been selected to go to Mexico City for the Green Expo, which gave us great exposure to a very eager community,” said Huff. “The Mexico government is being very proactive in new green technologies.”
When there’s a natural disaster, Colorado Clean will be able to help. Starting this winter, Colorado Clean is launching a new company, International Waters Incorporation. Their new product is the Disaster & Relief Mobile Water Purification and Bottling Emergency Preparedness Unit. The units will bring clean drinking water to those in need serving as on-site mobile water purification and bottling systems. They can be used during natural disasters, such as wildfires, floods, and hurricanes. The units will purify the water from any source including a pond, lake, sea or ocean, capable of purifying over 2,000 bottles of water an hour.
“Whenever there’s a flood, the first thing that happens is they shut down municipal water because of the contamination. Now, picture having to send in 150 semi-trucks filled with loads of water to get water to the people, that’s a logistics nightmare,” said Huff. “With our system, two people can run it and it can be backed up to any pool, river, lake or stream. We can purify and bottle the water into our Amphora right there on location.”
Huff used nine local companies in western Colorado to source the materials for the units. Colorado Clean is located in Palisade because of Huff’s ties to the community dating back five generations in his family. Huff is looking to expand in the next one to three years, possibly adding a facility on Colorado’s Front Range. When launching the company, Huff received offers from other cities to build a factory but he wanted to stay in his hometown with the great support from the city.
“I have deep roots and history in Palisade. I wanted to bring a good industrial business that’s green to our economy,” said Huff. “We wanted to build our company around Palisade and give a good sustainable company to the area.”
Fast Facts |
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|---|---|
| Location | Palisade, CO |
| Operations | Headquarters |
| Employees | 5 |
U.S. Jump-Start Company
the time it takes for the Amphora bottles to biodegrade
bottles of purified water an hour can be produced by the Disaster & Relief Mobile Water Purification and Bottling Emergency Preparedness Units.
