Dart Container, college recycle polystyrene foam
By: Chrissy Kadleck
September 14, 2009

For the 7,000 college students who descended on Michigan State University for move-in day, “Being Spartan Green” was as simple as focusing on the white stuff.

For the second year, MSU’s Office of Campus Sustainability has partnered with Dart Container Corp., based in Mason, Mich., to recycle leave-behind polystyrene foam commonly used in electronics packaging for TVs, computers, DVD players, and fans — all popular purchases for students.

“The problem we faced because kids go out and buy new and bright and shiny stuff that’s in a lot of packing material, we had cardboard that was pretty contaminated, and our loads were sometimes rejected by the recycler,” said Diane Barker, residential and hospitality services sustainability officer at MSU, who helped create the program in 2008. “We tried to strategize about if we could source-separate more, and then I decided to call Dart in Mason to see if they would assist us during move-in.”

Last year, Dart filled two 53-foot trailers with students’ leftover foam, an estimated 6,000 cubic feet or 2,500 pounds.

“It really proved to be a big success. We went into this year and wanted to make sure parents and students saw this when they walked in,” Barker said. “We branded our containers ‘Be Spartan Green’ and Dart has their insignia. We want to make sure that folks understand it’s a partnership and that we are all working together to lessen the contamination and keep things out of the landfill.”

From Aug. 30 to Sept. 8, Dart Container, which employs nearly 1,100 people in the area, provided on-site trailers to collect the polystyrene. The packaging then is transferred to Dart’s plant in Mason, where they recycle polystyrene foam products at no cost to the public. 

“This is something we look forward to doing every year,” said Dart’s Cheryl Dykhuis, creator of MSU’s ‘Pitch In, Help Out, Recycle’ foam recycling program. Dykhuis, the company’s corporate administrative specialist for government affairs and the environment, said Dart is dedicated to raising awareness that foam recycling in Michigan is possible and practical. “One of our goals is to make students and younger people aware of the fact that foam is a recyclable product,” she said. “This product has a market, and it has value.”

In the recycling process, foam is ground up, melted, converted to plastic resin pellets, and sold for reuse as an ingredient in non-food-service products, including picture frames and decorative molding.

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