Nonmetallics

POLYSTYRENE RECYCLING PROGRAM IN ITS SIXTH YEAR

Dart Container Corp., Mason, Mich., claims it has the only portable recycling program for polystyrene foam food service products available nationwide. Called CARE, Cups Are Recyclable, the program offers large institutional customers a fully-integrated polystyrene recycling system that includes promotional materials, a collection device, densification equipment, and transportation and reprocessing services. Currently, more than 50 active CARE programs exist in North America. CARE participants are typically high-volume users of coded #6 polystyrene such as schools, corporate cafeterias, hotels and hospitals. For more information on the CARE program, call (800) 288-CARE, or contact Dart via its Internet address at http://www.dartcontainer.com .

RUTGERS TO DEVELOP PACKAGING GUIDELINES

Rutgers’ Center for Packaging and Resource Recovery, New Brunswick, N.J., has been granted a contract to establish design standards and guidelines maximizing recyclability in the production of plastic packaging materials. The contract, which will establish a Design For Recyclability project at Rutgers, was awarded by the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers, Washington.

The effort will focus on research and testing to determine what makes a plastic package most conducive to the recycling process. To establish a package’s compatibility with recycling, the center will analyze items frequently used in the production of packaging materials, such as labels, closures, safety seals, inks, adhesives and coatings.

The center will use the information obtained through its research to compile a Design For Recyclability booklet with a set of standards, guidelines and ideas designed to help designers take a proactive approach in creating recyclable packaging materials.

For more information on the project, call (908) 445-3679.

GUIDE RATES PAPER ENVIRONMENTALLY

Conservatree Information Services, San Francisco, has published a special issue of its Greenline newsletter, ranking more than four hundred printing and writing papers for their environmental quality. The guide combines three categories of environmentally-preferable papers: recycled, tree-free and chlorine-free.

In addition, the 32-page "Annual Guide to Environmentally Sound Papers" features explanations of post-consumer and chlorine-free content definitions, ranking systems and buy recycled programs. It also includes "how to" guides on purchasing recycled paper, dealing with green printers, and reducing paper waste.

To receive the newsletter call (415) 433-1000.

MONEY AND JEANS FIND NEW LIFE

Two of America’s favorite items, dollar bills and blue jeans, are now being recycled into writing implements by Amazing Recycled Products Inc., Denver. The company’s retractable and refillable polystyrene pen is made from 75 percent post-consumer polystyrene. The pencils are made from factory waste created from blue jean manufacturing and from $7.33 each of old money that would otherwise be incinerated. The blue jean waste and old bills are compressed into pencils using a high compression technique which is becoming fairly common in recycling applications, according to Mary Jarrett, CEO of Amazing Recycled Products.

The company hopes to use a quarter ton of post-consumer polystyrene annually in the production of the pens.

METAL RECYCLER OPENS PLASTIC PROCESSING DIVISION

Connecticut Metal Industries, Monroe, Conn., has opened a polymer recycling division for the purchase of post-consumer plastic bottles. Until the expansion, CMI specialized in the recovery of aluminum and tinplate containers supplied by the scrap processing industry.

"This is an obvious extension of our current activities," says Bill Bailey, vice president of the 12-year-old firm. "The market for recycled plastics has matured during the past decade and we feel there is room for a stable buyer of plastic bottle scrap." Initially, the company will purchase baled post-consumer high-density polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate.

The new division will be headed by Todd Petrocelli, who will be based out of Woburn, Mass. Additional buying offices will be maintained in Brampton, Ontario, and Monroe, Conn.

GLASS RECYCLING, REUSE DATABASE AVAILABLE

The Dane County Department of Public Works, Madison, Wis., has compiled an 88-page database of more than 260 projects that reuse or recycle glass cullet in non-container uses. Designed to facilitate alternative methods of recovering glass, the database lists laboratory, demonstration-scale and full-scale projects, and includes both a summary of the project, along with a contact for more information. The database is available in print form, on disk or via e-mail. Call (608) 266-4562 or e-mail reindl@co.dane.wi.us for more information.