Dear Eric,
I have good news and I have REALLY good news. Yes, it’s time to get that big, white, blocky foam stuff out of your attic, garages, and closets, because Eco-Cycle and McStain Neighborhoods are teaming up once again to give you two Saturday Styrofoam Collections in September, one in Louisville and one in Longmont. (Before you Boulderites or others in the county feel neglected, read on for the REALLY good news.)
Here’s what we’ll be taking: clean, white, block foam packaging (the kind used to pack TVs, computers, etc., often referred to as “Styrofoam”) with a #6 imprinted within the recycling symbol. No foam “peanuts” or food containers, bubble wrap, or foam packaging marked with any other number. Please remove all tape and labels.
Here’s when and where we’ll be taking it: Saturday, September 17th (that’s ONE DAY ONLY) we’ll have a Lafayette/Louisville collection at the Recycling Drop-Off Center, St. Hwy. 42 & Pine St. in Louisville from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
On Saturday, September 24th (that’s still ONE DAY ONLY) we’ll have a second collection at the Longmont Eco-Cycle Drop-Off Center, 140 Martin Street from 9 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The Longmont collection also includes computers, books, textiles, plastic bags and other hard-to-recycle items.
Click here for a full list of items accepted at the Longmont event. Click here for a map to both locations and click here for detailed photos of what packaging material does and does not qualify for recycling.
We won’t be accepting foam packaging at these locations at any other time, BUT—here’s where that REALLY good news comes in—starting NOVEMBER 14th (I didn’t say it was great news, you’ll have to wait until then), in celebration of its fourth birthday, the Eco-Cycle/City of Boulder Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials (CHaRM), will be adding yet another material to its list of regularly collected materials. Can you guess what it is? Here’s a hint, it’s foamy, it’s white, and it’s the most frequently-requested material regular recyclers ask us to start accepting.
But it’s not called Styrofoam (we all just think it is).
For this new material, it isn’t just finding a stable market for it that makes it a “hard to recycle” item, this one presents an extra challenge because it has a name problem that requires us all to learn a new terminology. “Styrofoam” is a trademark of Dow Chemical Company, and it actually refers to the blue foam insulation used around building foundations. The stuff we can accept beginning in November is the white foam packaging imprinted with a “#6” inside the chasing arrows recycling symbol. So get ready for the new term: “#6 white block foam packaging.” Slips right off the ol’ tongue, doesn’t it?
There is, of course, a little bad news. Like most of the materials that end up on the hard-to-recycle list, there is no market value for block foam packaging. We will not be getting paid for it; instead we’ll have to pay for handling costs. We’re thankful to McStain for supporting the one-day-only collections to help us offset these costs. Our goal for the year-round program is to avoid charging residents by finding a long-term sponsor (or sponsors) for the program. Businesses with large quantities will be charged.
You can do your part to help keep the handling costs down by being sure to give us #6 block foam only, free of tape and to PLEASE WAIT UNTIL NOVEMBER 14th for the permanent collection. We know you can do it. You’ve proved you are diligent, attentive recyclers who bring us only what we can accept and that’s the best news of all.
