Metal shavings to countertops

It seems not a month goes buy and the recycle industry comes up with another stunning and interesting countertop material. Renewed Materials makes a sheet full of waste aluminum flakes. Flakes are the result of making aluminum bars and other shapes into machine parts, windows, or anything else made of aluminum.

Founder Demir Hamami says “What makes Renewed Materials different from other companies is the initial quest to make a recycled product. Other companies make recycled products as a result of figuring out what to do with a waste stream from the manufacture of a core product or how to add recycled content to a core product.”

The aluminum flakes are encapsulated in polyester or acrylic resins and used for tabletops, and countertops. Make sure when you shop for a countertop you know about the basic differences of polyester and acrylic.

Polyester resin makes for a hard surface but is not very transparent and cannot be melted for future reuse (thermoset). Acrylic resin is very transparent. They make eyeglasses of acrylic; it provides great visual depth and can be melted (thermo plastic) for future use, but is a much softer material.

Demir also shared important insight on the general public’s take on recycling. Demir commented “The focus seems to be on post-consumer waste recycling. What I see are huge opportunities in recycling pre-consumer waste from the manufacturing process. That is where much waste resides.”

-Rob Smith