A $45,000 grant from the Foam Recycling Coalition will enable a Denver-area company to begin processing expanded polystyrene and possibly open the door to curbside collection of the material.
Alpine Waste and Recycling of Commerce City, Colo. will use the money, provided by a Foodservice Packaging Institute initiative, to purchase a densifier to compact EPS into bricks for more efficient transportation. The densifer will be located at the company’s materials recovery facility (MRF).
The company, which has 80 collection vehicles, a MRF, composting operations and a landfill, is the first recipient of grant dollars from the Foam Recycling Coalition. A segment of the Foodservice Packaging Institute (FPI), the coalition formed in 2014 to provide resources to help drive recycling of post-consumer EPS.
“Out of the dozens of applications from the U.S. and Canada, we were particularly impressed with Alpine’s thoughtfulness and plans for the future,” Lynn Dyer, president of FPI, stated in a press release. “Alpine recognized the value and benefit of adding polystyrene foam to their already successful recycling program.”
Alpine will become the first company in the Denver area to provide foam recycling, according to FPI. It will accept both food-service and protective-packaging foams.
Alpine’s Altogether Recycling program was the first in the state to accept plastics Nos. 3-7 and cartons, according to Alpine. The company operates the second-largest MRF in the state, processing more than 6,000 tons of materials per month, the website states.
FPI plans to announce more recipients of grants through its North America grant program later this spring.
