Dive Brief:
- The Foam Recycling Coalition in Falls Church, VA gave a $50,000 grant to Colchester County, Nova Scotia, to upgrade its recycling facility so residents and businesses can recycle polystyrene foam food service packaging, egg cartons, meat trays, and protective packaging.
- The county will buy equipment that can compact polystyrene foam into bricks. The recovered foam will be processed in a materials recovery facility owned by the municipality of the County of Colchester. The Kemptown facility also provides processing contracts with neighboring municipalities and waste management authorities.
- Colchester County is the first recipient outside the U.S. to win a grant from the Foam Recycling Coalition.
Dive Insight:
Municipalities in the U.S. and elsewhere are grappling with what to do about foam waste. After New York City banned the product on July 1, arguments about its recyclability caused heated debates within the industry.
Wayne Wamboldt, director of waste management for Colchester County, said the expense of shipping lightweight foam has been a deterrent to recycling it. "Now, with recent developments in densifying equipment, it is possible to get recycled polystyrene material to markets in a cost effective manner," he told Recycling Today. "In Colchester County, polystyrene will soon be a recyclable material."