The idea of recycling is one embraced by many these days. And while we generally think of recycling as taking a used product, breaking it down, and using it to create something new, there are other ways to go about.One of those is to find new uses for materials which have out-lived their initial uses.
That is the approach being taken by repurposed materials.
Damon Carson, Founder & President said the initial idea came from the idea of re-using Billboard Vinyls.
“It wasn’t my idea. A subcontractor I had hired in another business I owned mentioned to me one day in passing in 2010,” he explained.
It might not have been Carson’s idea, but he did recognize it as a good one.
And as the idea of re-purposing materials expanded the agricultural sector became a ready market.
“The farm and ranch market is very big for us,” offered Carson. “There are all kinds of resourceful folks in agriculture that can figure how to “repurpose” these byproducts and waste of industry.”
The interest includes for the hog sector, said Carson, where “sweeper brushes as backscratchers; conveyor belting for windbreaks and fencing; billboard vinyls for covering for shelter and covering feed; swimming pool covers as shade screens,” are among the repurposed ideas.
Most of the ideas are “producer generated” said Carson. It’s a case where a farmer will have an idea how what might otherwise be something destined for the landfill which can be utilized in a new way on the farm, and the company helps procure the materials.
Carson said his company is “absolutely” up to producers calling with ideas, adding “that happens all the time.”
You can check out what ideas already exist at www.repurposedmaterialsinc.com and the company does ship across Western Canada. •
— By Calvin Daniels
