MALIBU—With the support of the Malibu city officials, the “Waste to Waves” recycling program is aiming to create surfboards from polystyrene. Launched by the non-profit organization Sustainable Surf, the “Waste to Waves” recycling program will be accepting polystyrene foam donations from November 1-November 12.

“Celebrate America Recycles Day [Novemeber 15] by asking your shaper to use these materials to create an ecoboard” states the city of Malibu. Specific guidelines for acceptable donations include:

  •  Bring only #6 white block packing foam (used to pack electronics and appliances)
  •  Food containers and packing peanuts will be rejected

According to the “Waste to Waves” official website,

“The Waste to Waves program can only accept clean, white, Expanded Polystyrene foam (EPS) used in packaging. EPS is more commonly known in the USA as “styrofoam”, and although they are typically used interchangeably to mean the same thing by the general public –  Styrofoam® – is actually a trademarked product of the Dow Chemical Corp. and is chemically a completely different product than Expanded Polystyrene foam. Polystyrene is marked with the symbol #6. EPS is used in packaging to protect fragile equipment such as televisions, computers, and furniture. It is also used as insulation, some food containers like cups, and of course, as surfboard blanks. EPS foam is hard, rigid, and very light since it is 95% air.  It is always white in color.”

Donations will be accepted at the Upper Parking Lot of Malibu City Hall from 7:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. A collection bin will be unlocked at those hours Monday through Friday and 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays.

For details regarding the “Waste to Waves” recycling program and to get an in depth look at the five steps required to make these surfboards, visit http://wastetowaves.org/2011/11/how-it-works/.

For information pertaining to the non-profit organization Sustainable Surf, visit http://sustainablesurf.org/.