12/31/2019
Our last post,our story.....
A sure thing.
It is hard not to be cynical today. Eight years ago I chose to make a difference by designing machinery to solve a problom. I committed countless hours, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, inspired dozens of people to create an industrial scaled model to recycle foam scrap from our waste stream.
The goal was to make profit and to prove EPS recycling was possible and viable.
For 6 years we accomplished this goal.
We required 4% of the foam from the waste stream with annual growth expectations. We grew into arguably the largest EPS recycling company in Canada. All profits were put into resherch and automaton.
From this growth we could leverage into a more suitable building increasing volume and efficiency.
As pioneers in this field of industrial foam recycling learning and education was the key.
These keys were our demise.
The doors they opened were an endless pit of newly discovered requirements and a lack of ability to secure material.
As a pioneer industry we we forced to establish ALL codes from air to elecrical and safety (to name a few) then comply to all new municipal, reagional bylaws we paid to create. I had hope there would be some help from some grant,environmental fund that could help with the costs of the new policy requirements. This fell on deaf ears.
We learned waste is a commodity and FoamOnly jeopardized the secured, profits and controle with an end goal of incineration intentions. The main excuse given was foam scrap is mingled in all waste so access is difficult. Remember the 4%, not an unreasonable request. Levy costs recently imposed by the region were passed to the generator and had little effect on diversion however created a new revenue souce for the region.
Perspective. FoamOnly recycled 150 tons from the Port Mann bridge expansion in 2015 alone. We grew to diverting 650 of the 14000 tons of foam waste identified .
An avarage take out box weighs one gram.
That's 1000 containers per KG or
1,000,000 containers per ton.
The Port Mann bridge expansion was equilivant to 15,000,000 take out containers.
That onr recycling project FoamOnly diverted the equivalence of 15,000,000 take out containers .
We are celebrating a take out ban but are unaware of the scale of the problem.
My proudest moments.
Part of Foamonly's labour force comprised of people we discovered who face more challenges than most in life. They suited our needs perfectly. I recieve a call from a case worker. She shared with me one of our staff came to them and said " I no longer needs your service."The case worker claimed it was due to FoamOnly. This happened twice. We were proud to hear this success.
All the staff woking tirelessly especially after Christmas when foam was spilling out our doors for weeks .
My saddest moments.
The day I surrendered to the fate of Foamonly's closing.
The day in 2019 I learned my partner/mentor Dean had died.
He was the keel to any hope of success we had and a great friend and mentor.
Last is today where I must share this story.
FoamOnly has been a learning experience to say the least.
I am grateful for some of the people in the recycling industry I have met throughout the journey.
Their tireless efforts give me hope for a cleaner future for the next generation.
My hope for the future is, the region/province/country becomes truly accountable for the waste we produce. Clear targets for what is waste and what recycling means.
My experience makes me question the current intentions and modivations.
Having our waste/recyclables exported to another country for disposal is deplorable.
The magical place of the dump is always someone's back yard.
We can do better.
Sincerely,
Mark Obedzinski
Founder
FoamOnly recycling Corp.
