Live Thrive Atlanta CHaRM initiative awarded grant

The Foam Recycling Coalition, Falls Church, Virginia, awarded a $41,000 gant to Live Thrive Atlanta’s Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM). This funding will help to expand the facility’s foam polystyrene recycling operation and continue improving the environmental and public health of Metro Atlanta by diverting hazardous waste and recyclables from local landfills. With this grant, CHaRM will buy a foam polystyrene densifier for its recycling drop-off site allowing the organization to process polystyrene on site.

CHaRM’s site currently accepts a wide range of hard-to-recycle and commonly recycled items. It will now accept foam polystyrene cups, takeout containers, meat trays and egg cartons, as well as protective packaging. The densifier being purchased with the grant money will compact these foam materials into condensed bricks that the county can easily ship to recycling markets in truckload quantities. 

“CHaRM is the type of a mission-driven organization that we like to partner with to help its work in advancing foam polystyrene recovery in the region,” says Lynn Dyer, president of the Foodservice Packaging Institute, which houses the coalition. “CHaRM provides a unique service to the region by taking materials not currently accepted at curbside, and the densifier will enhance that service and divert a large amount of foam from landfill disposal.” 

“Foam polystyrene is one of the most important hard to recycle materials received at the facility’s drop-off. Being able to increase processing of this material and be more efficient in selling to end markets will make it easier to provide our services to the residents and universities of Metro Atlanta,” says Peggy Whitlow Ratcliffe, executive director of Live Thrive Atlanta.

The grant is made possible through contributions to the Foam Recycling Coalition, with focuses exclusively on increased recycling of postconsumer foam polystyrene. CHaRM is the 10th grant recipient to receive Foam Recycling Coalition funding since 2015. More than 3 million additional residents in the U.S. and Canada can recycle foam as a result of these grants.