Cold Jet celebrates 40 years of sustainable manufacturing and dry ice innovation
Since its inception in 1986, Cold Jet has helped global manufacturing industries rethink how they clean, prepare, finish, and manage materials by turning recycled CO₂ into practical, technology-driven solutions. From dry ice blasting systems that remove contaminants without traditional solvents or abrasive media, to dry ice production equipment that supports food, pharmaceutical, and cold-chain applications, the company’s mission is centered around replacing outdated processes with more efficient and environmentally responsible alternatives.
Backed by global operations, certified technical support, and strategically located OEM parts inventory, Cold Jet combines innovative equipment with the expertise needed to keep production moving. The result is a broader vision of sustainability: not simply reducing environmental impact, but finding smarter ways to improve productivity, safety, and operational performance at the same time.
In 2026, Cold Jet is proudly celebrating its 40th anniversary – a tremendous milestone that’s symbolic of four decades of value-added innovation and technological excellence.
“Cold Jet’s success through the years has been born from our unwavering pursuit of technological invention and innovation in the application of reclaimed carbon dioxide,” begins Gene Cooke III, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cold Jet. “From our very beginning, we have focused on one purpose: the application of solid carbon dioxide to create customer value by solving cleaning, surface preparation, and transport cooling issues, and we do so sustainably. This objective has been present from the early days when we were focused on the introduction of a carbon dioxide-based aircraft coatings removal system to replace the use of toxic chemicals, and it continues today with our recent introduction of large-scale carbon capture systems for the biomethane industry.”
“Sustainability is at the core of Cold Jet’s mission and values, with our technologies utilizing recycled CO2 to support a cleaner planet,” Michelle Simspon, Chief People Officer, adds. “Since 1988, our business has centered on capturing waste CO2 from industrial facilities to be recycled into dry ice. Using dry ice for cleaning or temperature control cooling adds nothing to a customer’s carbon footprint; that CO2 was already accounted for at its source. We empower our customers to reach their ESG goals while driving green practices across our own facilities, including waste reduction, recycling, and pursuing ISO 14001 EMS certification.”
Significant innovation
As businesses and governments look for practical ways to reduce carbon footprints and meet ESG goals, demand is undoubtedly growing for technologies that combine environmental benefits with operational efficiency. At the same time, the rapid adoption of automation is creating new opportunities to apply dry ice blasting in smarter, more integrated production environments. These converging trends are helping shape Cold Jet’s strategy and driving growth across key industries, from electronics and semiconductors to food and beverage, aerospace, and automotive and EV manufacturing.
“There are a few megatrends for the world that are driving demand for our products and shaping our strategy. The first is the ‘ESG/Shaping the Resources of Tomorrow’ trend that has governments and businesses alike trying to find ways to be more sustainable and reduce their overall carbon footprints,” Christian Rogiers, Senior Vice President of Global Marketing, elaborates. “Another sector that has been on the rise is the push for automation through robotics, for which our Integrated Blasting Solutions division has been hard at work to bring dry ice blasting to automated assembly lines via robotic arm cells to usher in a human-machine hybrid era.”
Whilst shaping Cold Jet’s strategy, these trends are driving the company to push the boundaries of what dry ice blasting can deliver. As customers look for solutions that can tackle increasingly demanding applications, Cold Jet is investing in new technology and expanding its capabilities to meet those needs. The result is a period of significant innovation for the company, with several major developments underway, including the introduction of a brand-new innovation.
“Cold Jet is going through an exciting time in the company’s history where there are many irons in the fire. Besides adding a new training and demonstration center at our Cincinnati headquarters and launching a new state-of-the-art website, we’re launching a new product, the TEC 1200,” Arvid Nielsen, Senior Vice President of Operations (Cold Jet Denmark), enthuses.
“The TEC 1200 combines dry ice blasting with controlled high temperature compressed air to take the aggression level up a notch. In testing, we’ve discovered that removing paints, epoxies, and adhesives is an ability this machine possesses that standard dry ice blasting could not accomplish before, all while remaining non-abrasive and without generating any secondary waste streams. With this technology, Cold Jet is fulfilling the dream on which it was founded, successfully removing highly bonded paint and coatings from surfaces,” Rob Kocol, Director of Research and Development (Global DIMS), explains.
Fruitful partnerships
The TEC 1200 is just one example of how Cold Jet is expanding the capabilities of dry ice technology. In the electronics sector, this is taking shape through partnerships that combine automation-ready dry ice cleaning with robotics to support device refurbishment, extend product lifecycles, and reduce electronic waste.
“Cold Jet’s partnerships with global device refurbishment companies are built on a simple, shared goal: creating a true circular economy by managing the lifecycle of mobile and connected devices through trade-in, repair, refurbishment, and responsible recycling programs,” Mike Gawne, Senior Vice President of America Sales, shares. “By pairing our eco-friendly Cold Jet automation-ready dry ice cleaning systems with their smart robotics and automated testing, our partners can efficiently breathe new life into more than 20 million devices every single year. Ultimately, our products empower these organizations to salvage $4 billion worth of electronics annually, saving tens of thousands of tons of electronic waste from being thrown away while making reliable, like-new technology affordable and accessible to everyone.”
Ideas to solutions
Forty years on, Cold Jet’s story is still being written. What began with a vision to replace harmful, outdated cleaning processes has grown into a global business helping manufacturers tackle some of today’s biggest challenges, from sustainability and resource efficiency to automation and the circular economy. Yet, for all the technology and innovation, the company’s greatest strength remains its people. Their expertise, commitment, and customer-first approach have driven Cold Jet’s growth and continue to turn ambitious ideas into practical solutions. As the company enters its fifth decade, that combination of innovation and human ingenuity is set to remain at the heart of its journey.
“The people of Cold Jet are what make this company special. Behind every solution is someone who genuinely wants to help: an engineer thinking through a tricky problem, a technician who picks up the phone and stays on it until it’s solved, or a colleague who remembers the details that matter to a customer. That care starts internally – our employee retention has consistently ranked in the 90th percentile year after year,” Michelle Simpson emphasizes. “We grew from $8M to $100M not because of a strategy on paper, but because real people showed up, cared, and did the work with pride.”
