The Recycling Trifecta

September 11, 2012

Occasionally in NERC's blog, I am showcasing companies in the Northeast that use recycled materials in the manufacturing of new products. Today's entry connects three companies – Red Hook Brewery, Poly Recovery, and Foss Manufacturing.

"The Recycling Trifecta" is a video which shows how Poly Recovery, a full service recycling company located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, worked with Redhook's Portsmouth Brewery to find markets for its plastic waste—including green PET packaging strap used to hold boxes of bottles. The recovered plastic is turned into fiber by Foss Manufacturing to be used in such items as linings for automobile trunks and indoor and outdoor carpet.

Foss Manufacturing is a manufacturer of engineered, non-woven fabrics and specialty synthetic fibers located in Hampton, New Hampshire. The company's fabrics are used to make a variety of products, including athletic mats, carpet, and wall coverings. Each month Foss purchases about 60,000 pounds of recycled resin from Poly Recovery.

According to the folks at Poly Recovery, their customers include 8 of 10 of the largest manufacturers in New England; which make everything from flower pots to surgical tubing to board games. In fact, under Poly Recovery's "100-Mile Model," the company guarantees that all material that it collects and processes at its facility is sold within a 100-mile radius of its Portsmouth headquarters.

Redhook was able to reduce its waste by 63,000 pounds in just the first six months! And, Poly Recovery works hard to keep these recovered resources from Redhook and other businesses right here in the Northeast.

Another fine example of recycling at work for our regional economy!

By Athena Lee Bradley