Recycling plastic foam considered
Posted on Wednesday, October 11, 2006
BENTON COUNTY — The Benton County Solid Waste District is embarking on a pilot program that uses a local inventor’s product to recycle and reuse plastic foam products.
Sean Stephan of Bentonville demonstrated how his invention works Tuesday at the Benton County Solid Waste District facility near Centerton. The demonstration was simple. Stephan dropped chunks of plastic foam into a glass full of his chemical invention. Within minutes, the plastic foam disappeared.
Stephan developed the chemical two years ago and donated it to Rogers-based Advanced Environmental Technologies Inc., which has a patent pending on the product that it calls Hydro-Sol.
Now, through a partnership with AET, the Benton County Solid Waste District is studying the feasibility of using the breakthrough invention to offer plastic foam recycling countywide.
Americans throw away approximately 1, 369 tons of plastic foam products — fast-food cups, packing peanuts and disposable coolers — every year. Approximately 25 percent of landfill space is filled by plastic foam, which takes up to 500 years to begin to break down.
The bio-based chemical that includes orange oil and water breaks plastic foam down to a resulting polymer to be reused in asphalt, plastics and cement.
Benton County Judge Gary Black has agreed to test the use of the polymer on a county road as part of the pilot program.
“ Benton County is leading the nation — the world — on recycling Styrofoam with no energy, ” Stephan said.
Unlike other processes of recycling plastic foam products, AET’s process of extracting the polymer requires little to no energy or equipment.
For commercial use, for example, a 250-gallon cart might be set up at a store or warehouse. Several gallons of Hydro-Sol would be poured into the cart and plastic foam would be tossed in, where it would be broken down within minutes. Later, the polymer would be removed and leftover water reused.
The water-based chemical can also be sprayed onto existing landfills to break down plastic foam that is already there.
“ This is very important for us, ” Stephan said. “ This is the type of environmentally sound chemistry that we want. ”
AET’s owner, Josh Hutchinson, said the chemical is being used in Benton County for the first time anywhere.
“ It’s exciting, ” he said. “ It’s exciting to see the state also excited about it. ”
Representatives from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality attended the demonstration. Recycling coordinators Michelle Gillham and Betsy Spetich plan to watch the pilot program and hopefully expand the use of Hydro-Sol statewide.
The Benton County Solid Waste District is working with just one designated vendor during the pilot program but plans to accept plastic foam from other companies and individuals in the future.
Deputy Director Wendy Eckman said the program would likely be offered free of charge to individuals. Businesses would be charged a fee to recycle large amounts of foam.
Hydro-Sol is safe enough to be used on your hands and, if spilled or put into a landfill, releases no harmful agents into the ground or air.
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