AUSTIN, TEXAS — Austin Resource Recovery (ARR), a City of Austin service, was awarded a $45,000 grant from the Foam Recycling Coalition (FRC). The grant will increase the city’s capacity to manage, process and recycle more foam polystyrene (a material not accepted in the City’s curbside recycling program), including foodservice packaging and protective packaging, at its Recycle & Reuse Drop-off Center (RRDOC).

The RRDOC currently serves single-family residents, multifamily complexes and, with a service fee, community businesses. The grant will help the RRDOC manage and process a larger volume of foam materials, which has seen an increase of nearly 8,000 pounds per month during the past few years. This increase could be attributed to the City’s adoption of the Universal Recycling Ordinance, which requires business to provide access to recycling services in an effort to divert materials from the landfill.

“We are excited to see more material coming to our facility. With such an increase in the volume of foam, we were struggling to keep up,” said Andy Dawson, Assistant Division Manager. “With this grant from the Foam Recycling Coalition, we will purchase a second densifier to help supplement our current equipment and allow us to handle a greater volume of foam coming from residents and businesses.”

With the grant, the City hopes more residents and local businesses will bring foam polystyrene to the RRDOC for recycling, which keeps these items out of the landfill and helps the City reach its zero waste goal by 2040.  

“We like to work with forward thinking organizations, like the City of Austin’s Austin Resource Recovery Department, to expand their recycling programs,” said Natha Dempsey, president of the Foodservice Packaging Institute, which houses the FRC. “Everyone benefits when more materials are recycled in the communities they serve, instead of going to landfills.”

The grant is made possible through contributions to FRC, which focuses exclusively on increased recycling of post-consumer foam polystyrene.

ARR is the fourteenth grant recipient to receive FRC funding since 2015. Over three million additional residents in the United States and Canada can recycle foam as a result of FRC grants.

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About Austin Resource Recovery

Austin Resource Recovery provides a wide range of services designed to transform waste into resources while keeping our community clean. Services include curbside collection of recycling, trash, yard trimmings and large brush and bulk items; street sweeping; dead animal collection; household hazardous waste disposal and recycling; and outreach and education. Austin Resource Recovery offers free, voluntary, and confidential consulting services to help Austin businesses reduce waste and comply with the City’s recycling ordinances. In December 2011, the Austin City Council approved the Austin Resource Recovery Master Plan, which is the City’s road map to Zero Waste. The City of Austin is committed to reducing the amount of waste sent to area landfills by 90 percent by 2040. Learn more www.AustinRecycles.com.

About FPI

Founded in 1933, the Foodservice Packaging Institute is the trade association for the foodservice packaging industry in North America. FPI promotes the value and benefits of foodservice packaging and serves as the industry’s leading authority to educate and influence stakeholders. Members include raw material and machinery suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and purchasers of foodservice packaging. For more information or to follow us on social media, visit www.FPI.org.

About FRC

The Foam Recycling Coalition was formed under the Foodservice Packaging Institute in 2014 to support increased recycling of foodservice packaging made from foam polystyrene. FRC shares general information on foam recycling, provides technical resources and offers funding assistance to programs ready to start or strengthen post-consumer foam recycling. Members include stakeholders from throughout the foodservice packaging value chain. Learn more at www.RecycleFoam.org.