So what's happening to all that leftover Four Loko, now that it's been banned? It's being turned into ethanol, of course.
A Virginia recycling facility called MXI Environmental Services is expecting "a couple hundred" truckloads of Four Loko and other alcoholic energy drinks. That's hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of cans.
The AP reports:
MXI distills the alcohol from the drinks, then sells the fuel to be blended into gasoline, [Brian Potter, vice president of operations at MXI's facility in Abingdon, Virginia,] said. It sells the aluminum cans to a recycler. Potter estimated it takes "30 days until it's back on the shelf as another beer can." It also recycles the drinks' water, cardboard packaging and shipping pallets. "These are actually things that could go directly into a landfill or incinerator or some other waste process that's not as environmentally friendly, so I think it's a good thing," he said.
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Two other recycling facilities are also taking deliveries.
photo (cc) by Flickr user House of Sims