More than 400,000 residents in southeast Nebraska will now have access to recycling services for plastic foam packaging, thanks to grants from the Foodservice Packaging Institute.
First Star Recycling in Omaha and the Solid Waste Management division for the City of Lincoln each received a $25,000 grant from FPI’s Foam Recycling Coalition toward enabling recycling of EPS take-out containers, egg cartons, cups, foam blocks and other items. The grants helped with the purchase of foam densifiers, which are used to compact foam packaging into solid blocks for more efficient transport to makers of insulation boards and plastic lumber.
First Star’s Omaha MRF processes materials collected from Lincoln and Omaha, as well as from other communities and commercial customers in the region. The company participates in the Hefty ReNew program, in which residents place orange bags containing hard-to-recycle plastics into their curbside carts.
“Residents have demonstrated they appreciate the ability to recycle plastic packages, including foam packaging that routinely comprises 10% of all materials recovered through the orange bag program,” said Patrick Leahy, First Star CEO.
Earlier this year First Star began accepting paper cups in curbside collection, supported by efforts from FPI’s Paper Cup Alliance. In Lincoln, the Solid Waste Management division installed a Foam Cycle system at its North 48th Street recycling collection site, where residents can now drop off EPS items.
“The addition of the foam recycling drop-off expands the ability to recycle beyond those with access to the orange bag program and curbside recycling,” said Willa DiCostanzo, waste diversion coordinator with Lincoln Solid Waste Management. “We are also reducing transportation costs and supporting a circular economy within the community.”
Natha Dempsey, FPI president, added, “The City of Lincoln and First Star Recycling are great examples of how a small investment can have a large impact in a region.”
The Foam Recycling Coalition includes EPS producers Americas Styrenics and Ineos Styrolution; fast food restaurant Chick-fil-A; and foam product manufacturers CKF Inc., Dart Container, Dyne-A-Pak, Genpak, Novolex and Republic Plastics.
The two Nebraska grants bring the coalition’s total grants to 40 since 2015, bringing polystyrene foam recycling to more than 15 million additional US and Canadian residents during that time, according to a press release.
