Westborough – With the support of the Westborough Board of Health and the sponsorship of Central One Federal Credit Union, Westborough Cadette Girl Scouts Bhargavi Ram and Kaleigh Wright are bringing styrofoam (polystyrene #6) recycling to Westborough. Ram and Wright have been working on the project since the spring and have set a date of March 24, 2012 to hold their Reduce, Reuse, ReFoamIt! event at the Tufts Machine Lot on Main Street from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
It is important to recycle styrofoam because it is made up of 98 percent air and takes up a lot of unnecessary space in landfills. One of the many negative impacts of styrofoam is the toxic pollutants released into the air when it is burned. And, 1986 EPA report on solid waste named the polystyrene manufacturing process as the fifth largest creator of hazardous waste.
The U.S. recycles less styrofoam than other countries and one goal of this project is to help change that. People can help by recycling styrofoam gift packaging, egg cartons, coffee cups without wraps, packing “peanuts,” coolers, meat and veggie trays, take-out containers and more.
Ram and Wright are partnering with ReFoamIt!, a Framingham company out that takes loose styrofoam pieces and, using intense pressure, condenses or densifies them into blocks that are then turned into pellets to be used to make new products, such as picture frames, car bumpers and plastic brackets.
For more information, contact ReFoamIt at 1-508-872-2323 or [email protected].
