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The British Plastics Federation (BPF) held a half-day “Achieving Net Zero” online seminar on July 6. Philip Law, the Director-General of BPF said that striving to achieve net-zero is critical to the future success of the plastics industry. Similarly, it is also a challenge and opportunity for foam recycling.

We all have heard the term net-zero, but what does it mean? In short, net-zero refers to the balance between the number of greenhouse gases produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere. When the amount we add does not exceed the amount taken away, we reach net-zero. However, how can we do this?

Recycling foam may be regarded as a good way to achieve net-zero. As we all know, landfills and incineration are the two most traditional methods of waste foam. Plastic foam is made of oil and natural gas, if burned, it will generate a lot of heat. If landfilled, it will take a long time to degrade. 

There is no doubt that whether it is burned or landfilled, greenhouse gases will be generated. Recycling foam aims to eliminate toxic and hazardous substances from foam waste, thereby transforming recycled waste foam into valuable new resources to achieve net-zero goals.

Fort Hood, one of the largest military installations in the world and the home to a major sustainable development plan. It is designed to help the US Army reduce waste generation, maximize recycling, and ultimately achieve zero landfills. Michael Bush, the recycling operations manager of Fort Hood.

He said: “The technology for recycling foam is nothing new, the challenge is to promote those certain forms of foam can be recycled.” The recycling center processed 7,260 tons of recyclables in one fiscal year and generated $1.314 million. They can sell 80% to 90% to the recycling market, and buyers of recycled foam will melt the product to make new photo frames.