We’ve all had the experience of holding something in our hands that we knew was recyclable — a Tyvek envelope or race number, plastic bag, to-go coffee cup sleeve, Heatsheet, etc. — but we just couldn’t find a convenient place to recycle the item. Why?

Well, there are two answers to the question why:

1. there isn’t a viable market for the material, and/or
2. there isn’t a robust system for collecting the material.

Eco-Logistics has been working with AFMInc for quite some time on the mechanics of collecting Heatsheets at events for recycling, but a formal relationship with someone who would actually use the recycled material didn’t exist … until recently. We knew Trex Company was a likely partner, and AFMInc’s Wil Turner has been persistent, so here’s the good news:

Advanced Flexible Materials and Trex Company Announce Heatsheets Recycling Program

Recycled Thermal-reflective Blankets Will Become Durable and Eco-Friendly Trex Wood-alternative Decking and Railing

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The recycling guidelines Lee and I have been working on for AFMInc are now available as a PDF download from AFM’s Web site here.

What started out as an effort to develop specific recycling recommendations for AFM’s Heatsheets and other film plastics, evolved into a broader look at how mass participant sporting events should organize their overall waste recovery efforts. The end result is a booklet chock full of useful tips for race directors.

Be sure to take advantage of AFM’s generosity and download a copy of our Recommendations for Recycling at Mass Participant Sporting Events today.

AFMInc, the client we’ve been working with on Heatsheets recycling, received a last minute request from the Presidential Inauguration Committee (PIC) for Heatsheets to keep the participants in the Inaugural Parade warm until they begin their march from the U.S. Capitol to the White House. Naturally they turned to Lee and me for PR and logistical support.

What fun to work on a project like this! Our contact with the PIC was eager to help us work through the logistics of collecting the used Heatsheets and getting them to the TREX facility in Winchester, Virginia, where they’ll be processed and turned into “plastic wood” products.

Here’s a copy of the press release: (more…)

Six weeks ago, Lee and I announced our first major project. (At least it’s the first big project/client that we can talk about–the other two big things we’ve been working on have been for a client that keeps their vendors on a very short leash when it comes to publicity.) Anyway, we’ve learned a lot working with David and Stepanie Deigan of AFMInc, and we’ve got a lot more to learn and work on before this particular project is a wrap.

As you’ll read below, one of the things we’ll be developing as a spin-off of this project will be a comprehensive waste management primer for our clients and other interested race directors, which will be available at no charge to race directors as a PDF download from the Heatsheets Web site.

In the meantime, here’s an update on what we’ve learned:

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If you visited this Web site over the summer and wondered what Lee and I were up to, thanks for coming back. Even though you might have thought we lost the plot, we’ve been quite busy. It’s just that our work with clients wasn’t far enough along to shout about–most of it still isn’t.

We are, however, pleased to be able to announce our involvement in AFMInc’s pilot project for recycling Heatsheets. Here’s a press release that went out today:

AFMInc Launches Pilot Heatsheets® Recycling Program

Tests at six fall marathons will contribute to the development of a recycling protocol for low density polyethylene at road races across the U.S.

September 10, 2008, Petaluma, CA: AFMInc President and Chief Operating Officer, Stephanie Deigan, announced today a recycling pilot project she described as “well underway.” The intent of the project is to develop and provide extensive guidelines to running events of all sizes for the recycling of their plastic waste, including AFM’s highly visible Heatsheets-on-a-Roll™ finish line and aid-station heat-reflective plastic blankets.

Six marathons of various sizes, representing a wide range of U.S. recycling markets, were selected from AFMInc’s Heatsheets customer base to participate in this fall’s pilot project, including: the Portland Marathon, October 5th in Portland, OR; the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon, October 5th in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, MN; the ING Hartford Marathon, October 11th in Hartford, CT; the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon, October 12th from Schenectady to Albany, NY; the IMT Des Moines Marathon, October 19th in Des Moines, IA; and the Nike Women’s marathon, October 19th in San Francisco, CA.

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