WAMPSVILLE, N.Y. -- The Madison County Department of Solid Waste has started a new venture of recycling plastic foam.
Patrick Will, a solid waste employee, explained how the new equipment works: "Basically, it chews the product up with some teeth, and then it has an auger that pushes it into a chamber that compresses all the air out of it, and then it pushes it into another spot where it compresses it and molds it into these blocks."
"It's here. We have to do something with it. It's either we do something responsible like this or we pay the consequences of having it loose in our environment," said Will.
Most recycling centers have chosen not to recycle plastic foam. They say it's difficult to transport and not cost effective.
But officials in Madison County say they're willing to take that chance. Their plan is to sell the condensed product, which can be used to make other products.
"It turns into little plastic beads, and those beads can be turned back into either picture frames, crown molding, park benches, tape dispensers ... so it's a very useful product after it's recycled," said Christine Cassidy, the recycling manager at Dart Container.
Curbside pickup is not yet available for the foam program, so residents are asked to separate it from other recyclables and drop it off at a local transfer station.
"If you think about Madison County and the grand scheme of things, we're pretty small, but we're doing big things here; honestly, we really are," said Will.
If the program proves to be successful, solid waste officials say they hope to expand their operation.
Madison County Solid Waste is only accepting clean, white foam like Styrofoam. Packing peanuts and colored foam cannot be recycled.