Even before the sun rises, Mike Tuma marches the halls of Duncan Aviation near the Lincoln Airport, hunting for foam. The Duncan Aviation quality inspector has fought to keep the Lincoln company’s dumpsters free of discarded foam – a common byproduct of the aviation refurbishing work the company does – since May 2015. In that time, he’s collected nearly 5 tons of foam. “That’s a lot of foam,” Tuma said.
Duncan Aviation is a business aircraft service provider that offers repair, modification and other services to airplane owners.
Inside several large hangars this week, Duncan employees stripped old paneling and seats from several large private airplanes. The company refurbishes airplane interiors, removing old wood paneling, leather and foam from them and replacing it with new materials.
Those improvements often lead workers to discard foam — both used and unused — into yellow garbage cans provided by the company. Duncan began collecting foam for recycling more than a year ago and since then has collected 9,500 pounds.
“We actively support our communities and respect the environment, and we encourage our team members to be mindful to minimize waste and recycle,” said Jeff Lake, the company’s chief operating officer.
Once a week, Tuma hauls bags of discarded foam to Carpetland, 4301 Industrial Ave., which then sends it to carpet pad manufacturer in Chicago for recycling. Jeff Lehms, owner of Carpetland, said his company sends its own used and unused foam to the carpet pad manufacturer, which grinds and adds it to its new foam padding. He said Carpetland bails the extra foam before sending it and sends nearly 50,000 pounds of foam away each month.
“It saves our waste substantially,” he said. “I just want to keep it out of the landfill.” Tuma said Duncan also recycles cardboard and has recycled more than 39,000 pounds of it this year. He said he would like to recycle used leather and carpet as well.
The company already sends its unused leather scraps to a company that recycles it. He estimates Duncan has recycled enough foam to fill 58 dumpsters. “We’re always looking for ways to keep things out of the garbage stream,” he said.
To read the full story, visit http://journalstar.com/business/local/duncan-employee-recycles-nearly-tons-of-foam/article_a3c857a4-8a7d-5bbf-996d-f810c723c6dd.html.