I am a 15 yr old shaper from southern california and I have been getting sick of all of the excess shaping waste I have . Each time I finish a board, on average, I end up with: two end pieces (when cutting the board to length) and the two rail cut aways. I also fill up half of my 5 gallon shop vac when using my planer, and about a third of my 4 gallon trashcan just with the dust that i have laying around. when ever i finish a board i feel like the biggest botard throwing away that much waste. Im not the only one shaping out there, hell i finish about one board every two months, and there are some guys out there, not to mension machines, that are cranking out 6+ boards a day. now im no ecologist, but im like 87.34% sure that this isnt the most healthy thing for the environment.
I would really like to know if anyone out there knows if any blank factory’s such as US Blanks, or anyone similar, is accepting shaping scraps and putting them to use. if you guys are not positive or these factories just arent offering this service, do u guys at least know of any ways or ideas for how i could deal with my scraps?
thanks a bunch for your help and hopefully this topic gets a lot of attention, because this is a majorly overlooked part of the surfboard industry, and it needs to get handled.
Yea, re-ripping and making of recycled blanks only covers like 85% of the waste, its the best I can do, I’m not a scientist, just resourceful like the rest of board builders. Rest of it, best use is to bag it and bring back to mfg facility where foam is picked up regularly for re grinding (made into new eps) as you mentioned. I know the poly dust can be used now for filler in a few things and the guys at Green Foam can make into new blanks, pretty awesome. Other than that, maybe cut some holes in the walls of your house and pour in eps foam dust between the studs, it’ll make a badass insulator and sound dampener…
Good start. But what about the small pieces, crumb, dust and packaging materials? From the minimal research that I’ve done, EPS gets sent to a plant to get melted back into polystyrene, which might (or might not) get used to make EPS again. But usually it just goes to landfill, where it never actually decomposes.
Does anyone know of a way to re-use the crumb into another blank or compsand without sending it out for processing?
Hi Gstep. Are you willing to look outside the box? I don't have an answer to the dilemna, but I have been building wood boards for just over a year now. Not saying they're totally "green", but I feel like they're more environmentally friendly, and the waste is too. They're a lot of work, and a bit more challenging to build, but that just makes the end result that much more rewarding. They're heavier than foam, but totally surfable, and fun to ride. I realize they're not "mainstream", and so they get bad press from some quarters. I invite you to come on over to the wood side, and give it a try - a guy like you could go far, getting started at this young age. Where in So. Cal. are you? Maybe we could get together for a trial ride? What kinda shapes you into?
i have a wood working background and i really enjoy working with wood, but making a complete board out of wood really isnt the most progressive thing. i find wooden surfboards have way too much swing weight when surfing, and are just too damn heavy for my likings. yes u could make the board chambered, but then u are just trapping dead air, and your board becomes too boyant. another draw back to wooden boards is that they have very little to no flex. i love working with wood, but i find it very harsh on tools (compaired to foam), and to me shaping an entire board out of wood sounds horrible. i find wood to very true, but also very stubborn. i dont feel like excerting that much more energy, money, and time on a board that that isnt gunna work as well as the alliterative. im from la jolla, san diego. im from la jolla, san diego.
I heard that some people were trying to recycle EPS and make collection centers. There were board makers that were actually gluing up their PU blank scraps to make recycled blanks. I think it was Linden that was doing this.
Another plus for wood surfboards is that they tend to last longer and hold their resale value especially if they make pretty wall hangers. I got two on my walls that I use to surf with.
In an old Pacific Longboarder magazine article Yvon Chouinard was quoted as saying that they used recycled foam scraps to make dog beds. In fact, he said they can't keep up with the demand.
I still build a foam board now and then. And I still buy a foam board now and then. I like foam boards. I also like wood - call me twisted, but I figure Earth gave up a lot for me, I can give up a few things for her LOL.
BTW, you can buy blanks that are pretty close tolerance to a finished board, which should cut down the waste significantly.
I’m sure excess foam could be used for insulation in some way, eg in floors, walls etc. I intend to use my waste foam in the floor of a studio i am planning to build. Cellotex insulation costs a small fortune in the uk, and is only foil backed pu!
PU foam is a fully reacted polymer, so it is relatively benign waste. It can be re-used as fill in concrete, etc.; if you can find a way to get it to a location where this is done. The mechanisms for doing this aren't really in place on a widespread basis (but maybe that just means there's a business opportunity). Unfortunately fuel and transport costs exceed the ''value'' of the scrap a lot of the time.
EPS waste is also relatively benign. Any EPS blower will likely accept (clean) EPS waste to re-grind and use in ''non-virgin'' foam. Again, economics of transport involved in re-use have to be considered.
Good on ya for thinking about our impacts. But surfboards produce a tiny, tiny percentage of the world's ''pollution''.
See if there is an incinerator energy plant in the area.
Depending on where you are there might be a demonstrator project that is a filtered (read cleaner) incinerator/boiler project that uses local waste for power.
A lot of people don’t realize that often there is more energy spent and waste created trying to recycle responsibly than in creative disposal.
Call your local government and ask about programs like that which will do a couple things for you:
introduce you to opportunities within your community to responsibly serve and take care of your community while embracing a passion
introduce your local community to a motivated young adult looking for opportunities to help out by doing more than bitching about what others should do for you.
WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING
If you go the route of calling your community, don’t tell them you’re building boards and creating this waste.
Simply ask if there are opportunities in your community for the creative use of waste in your community.
