The Next Wave: Recycled Surfboards

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Plastic, paper, and surfboards? Attention surfers: your old, beat-up surfboard can now be recycled into paving the very road you’re driving on, or better yet, be given a second life as a recycled surfboard. ReSurf Recycling and Green Foam Blanks, two Southern California based organizations, have developed new methods in recycling what was long believed to be an unrecyclable material, "polyurethane."

Plastic, paper, and surfboards?  Attention surfers: your old, beat-up surfboard can now be recycled into paving the very road you’re driving on, or better yet, be given a second life as a recycled surfboard.  ReSurf Recycling and Green Foam Blanks, two Southern California based organizations, have developed new methods in recycling what was long believed to be an unrecyclable material, “polyurethane.”

Of the 750,000 surfboards produced annually, an overwhelming majority is comprised of “polyurethane” foam – a not so eco-friendly material.  During its production process, toxic chemicals, carbon dioxide, and volatile organic compounds are released into the atmosphere.  And, 20% of the foam is rendered waste after custom shaping.  Until recently, the foam was presumed to be unrecyclable, accumulating in landfills and producing heaps of waste.

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At ReSurf Recycling, these discarded surfboards are transformed into asphalt or concrete and can be used to pave city roads.  Old wet suits are also being recycled into yoga mats, helping to reduce the estimated 250 tons of waste created from neoprene wet suit scraps each year.  Want to do your part and donate your old surfboard?  With recycling facilities located throughout southern California, click here to find a location near you.

Green Foam Blanks teamed up with foam manufacturer Just Foam Blanksto create the first-ever recycled polyurethane surfboard blank.  Patent-pending technology is responsible for making the once considered impossible a reality.  And, don’t let the recycled part fool you; these boards are proving to measure up to modern surfboards in durability, lightness and function alike, just without the waste.  Want to know where you can get one?  Green Foam Blanks are manufactured at Just Foam in Oceanside, California, and have also been provided to surfboard manufacturers including Matt Biolos, Channel Islands, Rusty, Doc, Timmy Patterson and Pat Rawson.

Buy recycled, and surf’s up!