The village is putting its foam to good use as the first Bergen County municipality to buy an expanded polystyrene densifier. Officials said the machine has already compressed more than 7,000 pounds of rigid foam packaging during a 15-month rental test period, saving over 5,500 cubic feet of landfill space.
Now the village has bought the $68,000 machine and is in discussions about shared service agreements with Washington Township and Glen Rock to take on their foam recycling as well. Foam Container
A similar shared agreement was reached by Passaic County and Clifton in February, making the city the county's repository for polystyrene. In return for the use of the county's densifier, Clifton will accept containers of the material from all 16 Passaic County municipalities.
"Foam packaging is not biodegradable," said Ridgewood Recycling Coordinator Sean Hamlin. "It takes up to 30% of our landfill space. With enough being produced daily to circle the planet several times, the potential for major ecological impact is great."
Hamlin said the Foam Cycle LLC machine receives the foam through an intake chute, shreds the material, heats it, and forces it back out of the machine through a nozzle.
"This removes 95% to 98% of the air," Hamlin said. "The resulting densified material is sold to Princeton Moulding, which makes the densified foam into decorative moldings and trim."
The only requirements, said Hamlin, are that residents limit drop-offs at their recycling center to rigid foam packaging in block or sheet form that is clean, dry and free of labels and tape. Foam peanuts and food trays are not accepted.
"We are able to transform foam into a product that can be recycled many times over its lifespan," Hamlin said.
Mayor Paul Vagianos said the village hopes "to enter into more such agreements with our neighbors in the coming months."
Eps "Ridgewood is the only community in the area to operate a styrofoam densifier," Vagianos said. "This will reduce waste in landfills and disposal costs to each municipality."