You know what they say… “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
Last week we told you about Glu6, an eco-friendly glue that is made from recycled EPS. But Nine Lives Products (the creators of Glu6) aren’t the only ones on the hunt these days to recycle goods into new products. Another group, Princeton Moulding Group LLC, is manufacturing decorative picture frames and architectural moldings from recycled PS. The group has been so successful thus far, they are now operating 24/7. So, you would say keep the foam coming, right?! Well, that part isn’t so simple.
At first Princeton Moulding paid to haul foam to the East Coast from wherever it was available. However, with rising prices in the global market, they searched for a new solution. Enter: Dart Container Corporation. Dart is helping the cause by setting up large collection points for public drop-offs for foam, something they are also looking to do at Solo facilities. Dart acquired Solo Cup (maker of the red party cup – you know it all too well) and is trying to promote its recyclability too.
This is all happening at an important time: Last December an amendment passed by the New York City Council giving officials a year to determine whether foam can be recycled in an “environmentally effective, economically feasible and safe” manner. If this can’t be determined, a ban will take effect July 2015.
Dart hopes to prove the council that it can be done by collecting a large volume of post-consumer foam and transforming it into a variety of different products. The quantity shouldn’t be a problem, as New Yorkers alone are estimated to throw away 23,000 tons of it every year. But even eco-conscious consumers may not know HOW to recycle a foam product. Therefore by raising public awareness of the collection points and importance of recycling, Dart Container Corp. and Princeton Moulding together can turn a whole lot of trash into a whole lot of treasures.
Here is a photo taken from the article