Louis Troiano

Success Recycling Foam Packaging Waste 

Louis Troiano, Owner and Founder, Foam Cycle LLC

Foam packaging and food service Foam (aka Styrofoam) is one of the most plentiful yet least recycled plastics in existence today. My presentation will address this issue and offer successful programs now in place and the impact they are having.  By now, most everyone knows that cardboard, plastic bottles, and metal cans can be recycled. But did you know that foam packaging, the material we call Styrofoam, can be recycled as well?  Foam packaging and food service Foam (aka Styrofoam) is one of the most plentiful yet least recycled plastics in existence today. Foam coolers, TVs, appliance and computer packaging, along with cups, plates, and takeout clamshells, can all be recycled, and yet in most states very little is recycled and most of this material is sent to landfills.  This presentation by Louis Troiano, the owner of the patented Foam Cycle recycling system, will explore the impact of including foam packaging recycling programs at municipal and county recycling drop-off centers along with other hard-to-recycle materials that cannot be collected curbside. One great example is the award-winning Foam Cycle system and program operating in Collier County, Florida, since 2022, a county that has a 73% recycling rate while the state of Florida is at 48%.  Since starting in 2017, Foam Cycle has made foam recycling possible for over 12 million people in 14 states where none existed before. As part of my interactive and insightful talk, I will share how to create economic value from recycled foam and turn it into useful products such as picture frame molding boards and insulation, as well as cost avoidance value in avoiding trucking and landfill costs and impact. The talk will explore how foam recycling can contribute to the circular economy of local communities by providing access to recycling valuable and reusable material, all by recycling foam packaging waste… one piece at a time. 

To be submitted.