About the Sorptive Minerals Institute

The Sorptive Minerals Institute (SMI) was founded in 1970 to represent the absorbent clay industry. The six founding member companies, Engelhard Minerals and Chemicals Corporation, Floridin Company, General Reduction Corporation, Lowe’s, Inc., Oil-Dri Corporation of America, and Waverly Mineral Products Company, envisioned a not-for-profit industry trade association that would serve as the marketing, promotion and research arm of the absorbent clay industry with the goal of enhancing long-range growth and profitability.

The absorbent clays mined and processed by the founding members included attapulgite, bentonite, diatomite and montmorillonite. These naturally absorbent minerals possess unique properties that make them suitable for use in a wide variety of applications. At the time of its founding SMI members produced products that were being used in industrial oil & grease absorbents, cat litter, soil conditioners and carriers for pesticides used in farming. Over the years many additional products have been developed, with applications as varied as cosmetics, filtration media and clumping cat litter.

In 1982, SMI moved its executive offices from Chicago, IL to Washington, DC. The purpose of this move was to allow the organization to become more proactive in working with government agencies to ensure that SMI had a voice in legislative and regulatory issues that might impact the industry. Over the past 21 years SMI has submitted comments on numerous regulatory proposals and worked cooperatively with several state and federal agencies on issues related to environment, health and safety.

In recent years the SMI Technical Committee, which is comprised of scientists from the member companies, has undertaken several projects related to the science and minerology of sorptive minerals. Their groundbreaking work in this area has garnered recognition from scientists around the world.

After 33 years the SMI is still going strong. The membership now totals eleven companies and includes several multi-national corporations. Thanks to the energy and commitment of the members, SMI continues to be a proactive organization dedicated to the same ideals and the same vision that marked it’s founding in 1970.