Contributed by Sammy Taylor
Folks complain: why should I recycle? All that stuff is trashed. Not so! Valley Community for Recycling Solutions has found buyers for all materials collected. The unfortunate thing is that most materials have to be shipped south to be used.
That’s why local recyclers love the Thermo-kool story! Thermo-kool is a local Palmer business that makes and sells products produced from recycled newspaper and corrugated cardboard they purchase from Valley Community for Recycling Solutions (VCRS).
Here’s what their operation looks like.
Bales of corrugated cardboard from VCRS.
VCRS newspaper ready for the conveyer to shredder.
Conveyer belt leading to shredder.
Shredding machinery.
Employee supervising shredding.
Packing products.
Employee loading packages onto pallet for storage and transport.
Finished products ready.
Thermo-kool provides nine local jobs. Products are sold to local wholesalers like Astro-Mulch which sells to consumers including the Alaska Department of Transportation, Lowes and construction companies.
Thermo-kool uses about one quarter, by weight, of all VCRS-collected recyclables. That leaves about 1,100 tons of material that still needs local remanufacture.
To that end, Mid Valley Recycling is offering grants to youth and adults to come up with ways to use the other recycled materials collected by VCRS. Applications are available on the VCRS website, Mid Valley Recycling’s Facebook page or by emailing taylorsammy230@gmail.com. Take you bright idea and turn it into cash. Applications are open till January 31, 2023.