NEW FOAM RECYCLING CAPABILITIES FDOR MAJOR CITIES IN NEBRASKA

Foam Recycling Coalition grants improve foam recycling for over 400,000 households in Lincoln and Omaha

RELEASED DECEMBER 16, 2025

The City of Lincoln, Nebraska’s Solid Waste Management division and First Star Recycling of Omaha, Nebraska, each received a $25,000 grant from the Foodservice Packaging Institute’s Foam Recycling Coalition (FRC). The grant enables the recycling of more foam polystyrene (PS), such as cups, plates, bowls, take-out containers, egg cartons and block packaging foam.

The FRC grant assisted with funding the purchase and installation of foam densifiers, used to compact foam products into foam blocks or ingots. The foam ingots will be sold to processors and manufactured into insulation boards and plastic lumber.

First Star Recycling, serving over 400,000 households in Nebraska, is the contracted material recovery facility for Lincoln and Omaha, and services other community and commercial recycling customers throughout Nebraska and neighboring states. First Star Recycling installed a densifier at its Omaha material recovery facility. The densifier enhances the existing Hefty® ReNew™ program that encourages residents to place their plastics, including foam polystyrene, in an orange bag in their curbside recycling cart.

“Residents have demonstrated they appreciate the ability to recycle plastic packages, including foam packaging that routinely comprises 10% of all materials recovered through the orange bag program,” said Patrick Leahy, CEO of First Star Recycling.

Lincoln Solid Waste Management, servicing the city of Lincoln with over 116,000 households, installed a Foam Cycle system at the North 48th Street Recyclables Collection Site. Residents can drop off their foam polystyrene at no cost.

“The addition of the foam recycling drop-off expands the ability to recycle beyond those with access to the orange bag program and curbside recycling,” said Willa DiCostanzo, waste diversion coordinator with Lincoln Solid Waste Management. “We are also reducing transportation costs and supporting a circular economy within the community.”

“The City of Lincoln and First Star Recycling are great examples of how a small investment can have a large impact in a region,” said Natha Dempsey, president of the Foodservice Packaging Institute. “We are thrilled to support efforts that enable more than 400,000 households in Nebraska to have access to recycling polystyrene foam.”

The grant is made possible through contributions to FRC, which focuses exclusively on increased recycling of post-consumer foam polystyrene. Its members include Americas Styrenics; Chick-fil-A; CKF Inc.; Dart Container Corp.; Dyne-A-Pak; Genpak; INEOS Styrolution America LLC;  Novolex; and Republic Plastics.

First Star Recycling and Lincoln are the 39th and 40th grant recipients, respectively, to receive FRC funding since 2015. Over 15 million additional residents in the U.S. and Canada can recycle foam polystyrene because of FRC grants. Visit www.RecycleFoam.org to learn more about foam recycling, read about previous recipients or apply for a grant.