BP (NYSE:BP) Booms Used by GM (NYSE:GM) for Electric Cars

Plastic booms which has been used by BP (NYSE:BP) to contain oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill is being collected by General Motors (NYSE:GM) for use in making electric cars, according to the automaker.

GM vice president of Environment, Energy and Safety policy, said, "Creative recycling is one extension of GM's overall strategy to reduce its environmental impact."

"If sent to a landfill, these materials would have taken hundreds of years to begin to break down and we didn't want to see the spill further impact the environment," added John Bradburn, manager of GM's waste-reduction efforts. "We knew we could identify a beneficial reuse of this material given our experience."

Approximately 100,000 pounds of plastic will be secured for use in the electric cars, specifically for covering radiator fans in the engine compartment of the 2011 Volt.