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foam recycling program
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, the 2 nd most populous county in North Carolina and home to more than 1.1 million residents, has a goal of increasing recycling and waste diversion opportunities. The Mecklenburg County Solid Waste Program is a Steward with the ESI program. The Solid Waste Division continuously evaluates opportunities to enhance recycling activities. Expanded polystyrene (EPS) packaging and polystyrene food service containers were identified as a desired “next-step” in the County’s growing recycling program.
In April 2022, the Solid Waste Division applied for a $50,000 grant from the Foam Recycling Coalition (FRC) which is part of the Foodservice Packaging Institute (FPI). The FRC approved the grant application and the County entered into a Foam Recovery Grant Agreement in July 2022.
The grant funds were used to purchase a foam densifier machine to allow for the collection and recycling of foam packaging and food service products. In addition to the one densifier purchased with grant funds, the Solid Waste Division purchased a second densifier to support the roll-out of the foam collection program across our entire solid waste management system.
The County operates four staffed full-service recycling centers across the county where we have placed 32-yard containers to collect foam materials from residential customers at each of these staffed locations.
The Solid Waste Division started collecting foam materials in November 2022 and began processing the foam in December 2022. Over the past 13 months, our program has collected over 511 32-yard containers or 441,500 cubic feet of foam material from our centers. This volume of foam is equivalent to over 120 full tractor-trailers. Our processing system has densified over 76,000 pounds of foam materials.
In August 2023, we shipped one 53’ trailer of densified foam weighing approximately 30,000 pounds to an end-user market that recycled the material into construction insulation. In January 2024, a 2 nd shipment of approximately 41,000 lbs. was shipped to the same end-user market.
Over the past 13 months, our foam recycling program has been fully supported by the community and has exceeded our expectations by diverting 76,000 pounds or 38 tons of foam from landfills. This saves valuable landfill airspace for future disposal needs and makes use of a previous waste material.
In April 2022, the Solid Waste Division applied for a $50,000 grant from the Foam Recycling Coalition (FRC) which is part of the Foodservice Packaging Institute (FPI). The FRC approved the grant application and the County entered into a Foam Recovery Grant Agreement in July 2022.
The grant funds were used to purchase a foam densifier machine to allow for the collection and recycling of foam packaging and food service products. In addition to the one densifier purchased with grant funds, the Solid Waste Division purchased a second densifier to support the roll-out of the foam collection program across our entire solid waste management system.
The County operates four staffed full-service recycling centers across the county where we have placed 32-yard containers to collect foam materials from residential customers at each of these staffed locations.
The Solid Waste Division started collecting foam materials in November 2022 and began processing the foam in December 2022. Over the past 13 months, our program has collected over 511 32-yard containers or 441,500 cubic feet of foam material from our centers. This volume of foam is equivalent to over 120 full tractor-trailers. Our processing system has densified over 76,000 pounds of foam materials.
In August 2023, we shipped one 53’ trailer of densified foam weighing approximately 30,000 pounds to an end-user market that recycled the material into construction insulation. In January 2024, a 2 nd shipment of approximately 41,000 lbs. was shipped to the same end-user market.
Over the past 13 months, our foam recycling program has been fully supported by the community and has exceeded our expectations by diverting 76,000 pounds or 38 tons of foam from landfills. This saves valuable landfill airspace for future disposal needs and makes use of a previous waste material.
