Polyurethane Foam Sealant, Adhesive Manufacturer Goes Green

June 27, 2007
New recycling production plant is recycled from former use.

Opening a new production center that was recycled from a retail store and simultaneously launching a corporate-wide green initiative is how Fomo Products Inc. of Norton, Ohio is committing itself to environmental sustainability.

Rather than building a new facility for its Spray Foam Production Center, Fomo bought and recycled an old retail store in the Rolling Acres area of Akron. "We saw this as an investment in an area with a struggling economy and a chance to save energy used to produce new building materials and construct a large facility," said Doug Caffoe, vice president of business development and market for Fomo. "This building is also on the bus route so we can encourage employees to save car fuel and ride the bus to work."

The activity at the Spray Foam Production Center will focus on recycling foam tanks by refilling them and sending them off for use at large construction projects and OEM plants. Fomo hopes its new facility and recent investment in the area will spark a new interest in the area and help bring in more expanding companies.

Fomo's polyurethane foam insulation products, Handi Foam and Handi Seal, are already being used in the design and construction of energy efficient buildings. These products can all help a home receive an Energy Star rating and are used to insulate full wall cavities, floors and rim joists, as well as sealing around vents, plumbing and electrical penetrations. Some of the polyol components in Fomo's products come from recycled plastic bottles, but Fomo is going a step further to deliver products that are kinder to our environment.

"To further minimize our footprint on the earth, we are currently exploring new formulations using raw materials made from sustainable resources such as soy-based polyols, a building block of polyurethane foam," said Tom Fishback, technical director at Fomo Products.

"Additionally, we are anxious to start working with environmentally cutting-edge propellants, which have no global warming potential, ozone depleting potential and are not VOCs," he added.

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