Just like other industries produce by-products like sawdust, oils, ash, and feathers, foam conversion generates foam offcuts. In today’s modern age, sustainability is crucial and recycling is more important than ever. However, foam, being oil and chemical-based, is not considered environmentally friendly. So, how can we address this issue?
One major concern in foam cushion manufacturing is the significant amount of waste produced when cutting the cushions from foam blocks. Foam blocks are typically 2m x 2m x 1m in size, which are then split into sheets and cut into customer-specific cushion sizes. This process often results in odd-shaped pieces that are too small to be used as cushion pads. While these small foam pieces can be bonded together to form larger usable pieces, customers generally prefer to avoid any joins in their foam cushions, except in cases where cushion sizes exceed the size of foam blocks.
At Direct Foam, we are focused on repurposing all our foam offcuts that are produced in the factory to prevent them from ending up in landfills. Every scrap of foam we create is utilised.
All of our foam offcuts are recycled. We collect all the offcuts and put them into a baling machine which granulates and bonds the pieces of foam together, then compresses it into blocks to produce our recycled or reconstituted foam. This type of firm foam is a perfect choice when you need a budget foam. We produce four grades of reconstituted foam:
- Blue/Green 4lb, density 64 kg/m3 recycled foam – used for various furniture applications
- Yellow 5lb, density 80kg/m3 recycled foam – used for seating and various furniture applications
- Orange 6lb, density 96 kg/m3 recycled foam – Heavy duty recycled foam used mainly for bar and restaurant seating
- Yellow 8lb, density 128kg/m3 recycled foam – Extremely heavy duty and very firm. Used for crash mats and firm seating.
If you would like to learn more about our environmental policy, please call us on 01293 871712 and will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
