Success Stories

The positive buzz about Russian bees at Monticello

WASHINGTON — While Virginia beekeepers lost almost 60 percent of their colonies this past winter, the bees kept thriving at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.

The 25 bee hives at the historic site in Charlottesville, Virginia, got through the harsh winter without any losses.

Earth Watch: Dart Recycling

PLANT CITY (FOX 13) - If you have any extra Styrofoam leftover from holiday shipping, you don't have to throw it away. Dart Recycling in Plant City can recycle it for you.

“It's more the perception that foam can't be recycled,” said Bob West, Office Manager of Dark Recycling in Plant City.

For 35 years, the Dart Recycling Facility in Plant City has given foam packaging new life. It’s recycled to…

Agilyx adds foam densifier

Agilyx Corp., Tigard, Oregon, says it has received a $50,000 grant from the Foam Recycling Coalition, Falls Church, Virginia, to purchase a densifier, allowing for more recycling of polystyrene foam.

“We are able to handle all types of foam polystyrene materials, including cups and food containers that might still have residue left on them,” says Brian Moe, Agilyx vice president of operations.

 …

East Lansing receives grants to improve recycling program

The City of East Lansing received more than $18,000 in grants from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to further its recycling programs. 

A recycling infrastructure grant gave the city $14,760, and with additional funds from the city, around $20,000 will be spent to improve infrastructure, Environmental Services Administrator Cathy DeShambo said.

Residents Recycle More Than 50 Tons Of Stuff

With an amazing 1,288 attendees in just four hours, the 2017 Kane County Recycling Extravaganza held on July 8 was a whopping testimony to your willingness to do the right thing. The event held at the Kane County Branch Court office parking lot in St. Charles might have been a record-breaker in a number of categories...

Expanded Polystyrene Recycling

Expanded Polystyrene Recycling

San Diego Expands Curbside Recycling

The City of San Diego is expanding its curbside recycling program within city limits, adding polystyrene food service containers to the lineup in its curbside recycling program.  “By expanding what we’re able to recycle, we’re moving in the right direction as we try to reduce, reuse and recycle as much of the trash we collect every day as we can,” said Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer said in a statement.…

Polystyrene-to-Styrene Monomer (PSM) Technology

Agilyx Corporation is taking polystyrene recycling full circle. Plastic waste can now be recovered and transitioned into things like your child's bike helmet!

Foam Recycling Grows With Three New Drop-Off Centers

Dart Container has opened foam recycling drop-off centers in Ada, OK, Urbana, IL, and Twin Falls, ID. All three locations are accessible 24/7 and free of charge.

Foam Recycling in Thomaston, GA

Location: 2260 Delray road Thomaston, GA 30286
Hours: 24 hours, Monday-Sunday
What they accept: Clean food packaging, transportation packaging

About: Residents of Thomaston, GA and surrounding areas are able to recycle their polystyrene foam products more conveniently thanks to Dart Container Corporation. The plastics manufacturer offers a foam recycling drop-off center for local individuals, schoo…

Alpine Waste & Recycling Adds Foam Recycling Densifier With Grant

Due to the great demand for foam recycling, Alpine Waste & Recycling in Denver, Colorado have purchased a foam densifer. The new equipment will make a great addition to their single stream capabilities and makes them the first company in Colorado to recycle polystyrene foam products. Since adding this new feature, Alpine says it has more than doubled its ability to process single-stream recycl…

Fairfax Companies Now Offering Free Foam Recycling in Arizona

January 21, 2016 – The Fairfax Companies, a Southern Arizona company offering construction, demolition, and landscape waste industry services, is now providing free foam recycling at their facility. Jason Tankersley, CEO of The Fairfax Companies is the driving force behind this recycling effort and hopes that this service can help improve their surrounding community.

“We are really excited to be …

Pilot Foam Recycling Program Hits Madison County in New York

Madison County in the state of New York, has just begun a pilot foam recycling program that will run from December 29, 2015 through June 30, 2016. Individuals who wish to recycle their foam can bring the material in clear plastic bags to the landfill on Buyea Road, across from the ReUse store. All tape and other labels must be removed. From there, the Department of Solid Waste will collect…

Free Foam Recycling in Arizona

January 21, 2016 – The Fairfax Companies, a Southern Arizona company offering construction, demolition, and landscape waste industry services, is now providing free foam recycling at their facility. Jason Tankersley, CEO of The Fairfax Companies is the driving force behind this recycling effort and hopes that this service can help improve their surrounding community.

“We are really excited to be …

More Foam Drop-off Locations Added in the United States

Demand for Foam Grows, More Foam Drop-off Locations Added in the United States

The market for polystyrene foam in industries continues to grow, as the material is economically feasible for many small businesses and restaurant owners. As the demand for foam rises, polystyrene recycling programs have been established to divert these products from landfills and recycled into new products. Communitie…

Foam Recycling Bill Passes at Central Michigan University

Central Michigan University has just became another college campus to support foam recycling, as legislation to install foam recycling containers for laundry rooms in residence halls has passed. The bill passed in both the House and Senate for Central’s Student Government Association during their November 23 meeting. In an effort to achieve a more environmentally friendly campus, the Sustainabilit…

Continued Green Move-In Recycling Drive Aims for Sustainability

Davis, Calif. (October 21, 2015) – The green freshman move-in day at the University of California Davis remains as a successful and eco-friendly tradition. Marking its sixth year of holding a move-in recycling drive, the university collected half a truckload of foam packaging; creating new heights for the future of recycling. In addition, last year UC Davis collected nearly 500 pounds of foam food…

Communities across the Country Make Positive Initiatives towards Recycling

During the month of October, many individuals around the world are taking action to improve recycling in their community. Recently, Pointe-Claire in Canada held a foam collection for surrounding communities. In addition, Colchester County in Nova Scotia, Canada, has received a $50,000 grant from the Foam Recycling Coalition. The county plans to use the grant towards upgrading their facilities and …

Pointe-Claire and Beaconsfield make strides in recycling with collection

Pointe-Claire, Quebec, Canada is the latest community that is beginning to collect polystyrene foam for recycling. They are holding a foam collection event where residents in the city and surrounding communities can come and drop off their polystyrene products. The collection will be held on October 3, 2015 at the Public Works Yard, located on 50, Terra Cotta Ave., and will go from 9:00 a.m. – 4:0…

Build Your Home FROM Foam

With a rapidly growing market, the uses for recycled polystyrene continue to grow. Companies are using it for things like picture frames, surfboards and gardening supplies. Now, one company in Portland, Oregon is building homes FROM foam.

BluBloc uses recycled polystyrene to create building materials that can be utilized in a variety of applications. Using recycled polystyrene, BluBloc is an insu…

Foam Recycling Coalition Gives Grant to Nova Scotia Community

Recycling polystyrene cups, plates, packaging materials, egg cartons and meat trays will become much easier in Colchester County in Nova Scotia thanks to a $50,000 grant from the Foam Recycling Coalition.

Colchester is the second community to receive a grant from the FRC and the Foodservice Packaging Institute. They plan to use the grant to upgrade their facilities and purchase new polystyrene re…

Mil-tek puts the squeeze on polystyrene

One of the common questions people have about polystyrene foam recycling is “How do you transport the foam effectively?”

Since polystyrene foam is 90% air, it is too light to transport without compressing it into a more manageable size.  Mil-tek in the United Kingdom has solved this efficiency problem by using presses and balers to crush the foam into smaller more efficient sizes. Wit…

Rhode Island Gets New Recycling Location

From coast to coast, more and more cities around the United States are beginning to recycle polystyrene foam products in their communities. Some places do it by offering drop-off locations and some do it by collecting foam in their curbside recycling. One company in Rhode Island has expanded the reach of foam recycling by offering a new drop-off location available to residents throughout the state…

Making Foam Recyclable For Schools

As schools and districts approach the future, they are continually presented with issues related to waste and budgets. A recent study of middle school students by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency found that the average student generated over half a pound of waste per day. Only about a quarter of the waste generated was food waste, the rest was made up of wrappers, trays and other waste produ…

First Recycling Grant Winner Announced

The Foodservice Packaging Institute has announced the first recipient of their foam recycling grant program, Alpine Waste & Recycling of Commerce City, Colorado. The grant program was intended to support communities that needed assistance purchasing equipment to recycle polystyrene. 

“Out of the dozens of applications from the U.S. and Canada, we were particularly impressed with Alpine’s thou…

Company Shows Rapid Growth of Polystyrene Output

Businesses around the country continue to see the rewards of recycling polystyrene in their communities. Businesses are increasingly utilizing recycled polystyrene to create products because it is cheaper and easier to use than virgin products. The FPI has shown that the market for recycled polystyrene will increase by 8% by 2016.

A New Mexico company is showing first hand the impact that…

Recycling Offers Solution To Landfill Issues

Recycling Offers Solution To Landfill Issues

With current landfills continuing to fill up each year communities are looking for solutions on how to cut down the waste going to landfills. With complex plans including recycling, communities can continue to manage their landfill resources for a long time.

The key for cities moving forward is to take a long look at what is actually going int…

Cities Across Country Successfully Recycling Foam

Communities across the world are debating if they should consider banning polystyrene foam or if they should recycle it. Banning polystyrene forces businesses into switching to costlier alternatives and still leads to waste from foam packaging in shipping. Foam recycling is becoming an increasingly viable decision for communities to consider. With increasing demand for recycled polystyrene…

Grant Program to Help Improve Foam Recycling

The Foam Recycling Coalition launched a brand new grant program to help communities pay for foam recycling equipment. The grant program will help communities that are recycling of foodservice packaging, egg cartons, meat trays and protective packaging. The grants will be available to both public and private sector organizations and will range from an estimated $15,000 to $50,000 each. 

Th…

Yonkers Recycling Center

Yonkers Invests In Foam Recycling

Each month, polystyrene recycling continues to grow in cities around the United States. This month is no exception, as Yonkers, NY became the latest city to launch a polystyrene drop off recycling program.  

“Improving the environment is a job that’…

Waste Sleuth Investigates Foam Recycling

What does it take to turn a simple foam cup into a new product through recycling? Todd Sutton, also known as the Waste Sleuth, investigates in a new video released by Dart Container Corporation and Moore Recycling. 

In the video, Todd starts with a …

UC Davis Continues Tradition of Green Move-In Recycling Drive

DAVIS, Calif. (October 15, 2014) – The University of California, Davis, and Dart Container partnered to collect nearly 500 pounds of foam containers during the school’s annual green move-in recycling drive as students arrived at residence halls this fall. 

“Our aggressive recycling program and partnerships, such as the one we have with Dart, are critical to meeting the University’s mission of pro…

EPS Recycling Continues To Grow

As technology and public education continue to improve, foam recycling continues to grow throughout the United States. The EPS Industry Alliance published their annual Foam Recycling Rate report and the results could not be better for communities and…

Foodservice Packaging Institute Shows Rising Recycling Demand

Foam recycling needs its advocates just like any other important cause. In an effort to help promote foam recycling to the general public, the Foodservice Packaging Institute (FPI) has launched the "Foam Recycling Coalition.” This coalition recently commissioned a study on the demand for post-consumer EPS and found a rising demand for recycled Polystyrene.

The survey, completed by Berkley Researc…

Texas Tech is Recycling Leader

As schools around the country return to business as usual, one university has begun to take a step forward in becoming more efficient.  This summer, Texas Tech purchased and implemented a new foam densifier to help the school recycle polystyrene foam.

“It’s pretty easy,” Caleb Crow, unit supervisor of Energy Management and Sustainability at the Tech physical plant, said. “One person manag…

New Winnetka Foam Recycling Program

As communities around the country look to implement foam recycling in their towns one of the biggest things they struggle with is getting started. How and where are two important questions that are frequently asked. Winnetka, Illinois has a simple answer.

One box in a city building.

In 2012, Winnetka began recycling block polystyrene by placing a box in the Winnetka Public Works Building for two…

Northborough Junior Women’s Club Awarded for Foam Recycling Efforts

Recently, the members of the Northborough Junior Woman’s Club (NJWC) returned from the General Federation of Women’s Clubs’ (GFWC) annual convention in Phoenix, Arizona. NJWC received second place in GFWC’s Community Improvement Program, for their polystyrene recycling project.

Members of the NJWC started the polystyrene project in 2010, when Jane Walsh, chair of the Conservation Committe…

Foam Only: Creating a Zero Waste Society

When Vancouver residents, Mark Obedzinski and Noel Massey started Foam Only back in 2012, they had one goal in mind, to create a zero waste society. By providing a cost effective solution for collecting expanded polystyrene (EPS), Foam Only has made significant headway over the past two years in its effort towards reaching this goal.

When Mark was researching the recycling of asphalt …

Styro Recycle Opens the Door for Foam Recycling on the West Coast

Five years ago, Marilyn Lauderdale recognized the need for an expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam recycling center in her community. She understood that EPS foam was filling up landfills and something needed to be done to divert this useful material, without completely removing it from our daily lives. This recognition led her to the creation of Styro Recycle LLC in April of 2009.

Based in Re…

EnStyro: Recycling Polystyrene Foam to Create a Better Concrete

Both new and used, expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam is a valuable material with superior properties associated with building and insulation. Unfortunately, significant amounts of EPS foam are wasted each year when not recycled. As a result, David Rhomberg started EnStyro, a small company dedicated to the responsible recycling of EPS foam. Using his experience in particle design, Rhomberg fo…

The StyroGenie: Recycling Lunch Trays Made Easy

Schools throughout the United States use roughly 5.76 billion foam food trays each school year.[1] Polystyrene foam, which is often mistakenly referred to as Styrofoam®, a registered trademark of the Dow Chemical Company, is used to make these lunch …

Kirkland to Host ‘StyroFest’ this Holiday Season

It is getting to be that time of year when holiday gift giving produces large amounts of polystyrene foam and packaging materials. Instead of throwing polystyrene foam products into the trash, residents in Kirkland, Washington are participating in ‘StyroFest.’

Over four specific weekends from Thanksgiving to the beginning of March, Kirkland residents will be able to dispose of their used …

Foam Tray Recycling at Westwood Elementary

Westwood Elementary School in Stockton, California launched a successful foam lunch tray recycling program with input from students, teachers and the custodial staff. Through foam tray recycling, the school has reduced its cafeteria waste and trash collection fees by 20%. Plus, recycling has taught the students cooperation, problem-solving and environmental responsibility.

Launching the program i…

Recycling Foam in Cities

Cities can use their existing curbside infrastructure to recycle foam #6 packaging materials and food service products. See how foam recycling can be implemented at the curbside, and get a behind-the-scenes look as foam products are sorted and densified at a materials recovery facility (MRF).

Kane Residents Recycle More Than 50 Tons Of Stuff At 2017 Extravaganza

With an amazing 1,288 attendees in just four hours, the 2017 Kane County Recycling Extravaganza held on July 8 was a whopping testimony to your willingness to do the right thing. The event held at the Kane County Branch Court office parking lot in St. Charles might have been a record-breaker in a number of categories...