ReWall Company Reuses Milk Cartons as Building Materials

Milk may do a body good, but it doesn’t do recycling any good. The Tetra Pak and other similar gable-top cartons that your milk and juice come in are coated with polyethylene, so most curbside recycling programs won’t take them. But ReWall Company wants more of them.

Using a European technology, Iowa-based manufacturer ReWall turns poly-coated products into recycled wall boards, tile backers, sheathing, and decorative panels. Its line of 100% post-consumer recycled materials includes NakedBoard, which is suitable for supporting tile in wet areas, and EssentialBoard, which can be substituted for drywall.

ReWall’s recycling process starts with poly-coated cartons, cups and their components. The materials are shredded and then moved through a proprietary process that heats and compresses all that plastic, paper and ink into a final product. The environmentally-friendly process uses no added glue, water or chemicals in manufacturing.

ReWall currently reuses 100 tons of materials a month, but plans to triple that figure later this year by partnering with recyclers to retrieve poly-coated paper waste bound for the landfill.

Read More: Used Cartons Make New ReWall Materials at Jetson Green

MORE GREEN BUILDING MATERIALS ON APARTMENT THERAPY:
• Top 10 Green Building Products for 2012
• Our Favorite Green Building Materials and Products!
• Finding Reclaimed Materials at Planet Reuse

(Images: ReWall via Jetson Green)