OBJECTIVES:
1. The student will be familiar with the economics of recycling scrap foam.
2. The student will be familiar with the process in which foam is recycled.
3. The student will be able to identify appropriate applications for recycled foam.

TEXT:
1. In-Touch; Volume 4, Number 1; February 1991
2. In-Touch; Volume 1, Number 4; November 1991
3. Flexible Polyurethane Foam Glossary

PROCEDURE:
I. Introduce the subject of FPF recyclability. (2-3 minutes)
Pass around a sample of bonded polyurethane carpet cushion or rebond for the class to examine.
The opportunity to generate additional revenues while eliminating costly waste removal has caught the attention of many home furnishings manufacturers, foam fabricators, carpet installers, and other converters of flexible polyurethane foam. An easy product to recycle, flexible polyurethane foam scrap is now generating revenue for many end-users, while supplying needed raw materials for producers of bonded carpet cushion.

II. LECTURE (20-25 minutes)
A. FOAM RECYCLING IS VIABLE
(Put the "Foam Recycling Process" transparency on the overhead projector) Reduce, reuse, recycle. This is hardly a new concept, but not always an easy one to realize. Many materials are difficult to recycle. Some simply don't produce a valuable recycled material. Others are difficult to collect and transport. But, one material being recycled now throughout the country, provides both environmental and financial
benefits: flexible polyurethane foam. Polyurethane foam manufacturers first attacked the solid waste problem by using more efficient product formulations and manufacturing processes to minimize the amount of process scrap. Even so, up to 30 percent of all polyurethane foam can become scrap after cutting and shaping foam in product fabrication.
Without recycling, this could be a costly disposal problem for manufacturers and an environmental problem. With the development of practical end-uses for scrap flexible polyurethane foam, almost every piece of scrap is recyclable.

B. PRIME VS. BONDED CARPET CUSHION
Prime polyurethane carpet cushion is made from slabstock polyurethane foam. Blocks of foam are slit into sheets of specified thickness, typically ranging from 1/4" to 9/16". Bonded polyurethane carpet cushion is made in an entirely different manner. (Put "Bonded Foam" transparency on overhead projector) Scrap foam of various types is shredded into small pieces and placed into a processing unit with a chemical adhesive. The mixture is pressurized and injected with steam to form a large foam cylinder or block. This material is then "peeled" into the proper thicknesses for carpet cushion use. The use of various types of foam (some times of different colors) gives bonded foam carpet its unique "marbled" look.
The fact that "scrap" foam is used in bonded foam production should not be considered a negative. In actuality, some grades of bonded cushion are considered to be among the highest quality and best performing carpet cushion products.

C. FINANCIAL BENEFITS OF RECYCLING SCRAP FOAM
Each pound of scrap sold helps reduce the cost of foam material used in end-product manufacturing. With a ready market for manufacturing trim wastes, using flexible polyurethane foam in filling and cushioning applications makes good economic sense.
The process of recycling scrap foam into bonded carpet underlay is fairly simple. There are bonded carpet underlay producers (commonly called "bonders") and many foam fabricators also produce bonded carpet cushion. So, there are many buyers today for scrap foam. Scrap foam is prepared for sale by making sure that is clean, dry and free from foreign objects. (One small piece of metal can cause severe damage to scrap processing machinery and can disable a bonded carpet pad peeler.)

D. OTHER END USES OF SCRAP FOAM
While the majority of polyurethane foam scrap is processed into bonded carpet underlay for the U.S. market, scrap can also be shredded and used as packaging and stuffing for pillows, and plush toys. Its relative high density and excellent resilience make foam scrap suitable for some furniture cushioning, sound insulation, gymnastic mats and other value-added applications.
The United States currently has more demand for products manufactured from FPF wastes than can be supplied through domestic scrap recovery. Importing of foreign scrap is now a common practice, and it's a competitive situation. Other markets, such as Europe, are rapidly developing innovative uses for scrap to provide high-value products for their consumers. Since its inception in 1990, the PolyUrethane Recycle and Recovery Council (PURRC) has aggressively worked to identify, demonstrate and promote commercially viable technologies for recycling and/or recovering polyurethane process and post-consumer scrap. PURRC's efforts continue in pursuing methods for reducing waste and in discovering new uses for recycled FPF products.

III. (15-20 minutes) Have the class divide into their small groups again. This time, ask the groups to brainstorm new applications for rebond or bonded polyurethane foam. Remind them to keep to consider everything they have learned about FPF and its applications. Encourage the groups to be creative in their new application ideas. Have the groups re-examine the rebond sample as they think about new applications for this versatile product.

IV. (5-7 minutes) Summarize the results of the groups as a whole by writing the new applications generated on the blackboard. Wrap up the lessons on flexible polyurethane foam.

MATERIALS NEEDED:
1. Samples of rebond polyurethane foam
2. Transparencies
3. Overhead projector

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