Sustainable Products
About Us
Avery Zahn
I remember when I was a kid and watched a special on Modern Marvels that explained the ideas of taking garbage plastic and making it into picnic tables and park benches. The show has always been stuck in my head. Fast forward 30 years later I am hoping to make this a reality in the Midwest and potentially beyond.
My background consists of extensive construction experience that has put me into several different trades of construction. Most recently in 2009 I started a company that cleaned and televised underground pipes. Through numerous projects I came to realize the need for a technology that could rehabilitate the infrastructure without open cut excavation. Our company used several different methods of trenchless rehabilitation but one in particular became a favorite. Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) was a method prefered because of the reduced to zero carcinogens being put into the environment.
While installing this material into the host pipes I realized the excess waste of PVC being cut up and hauled to the landfill. We were loading full roll off dumpsters of this material and paying to dispose of it. The same time I'm disheartened about throwing this into the landfill. My friend (Ryan) and fellow business owner of an underground cable company mentioned how he has roll-off containers of HDPE being sent to the landfill every week. Ryan and I would talk numerous times about what could be done to reduce this waste and utilize it for recycling.
I went to the factory one year and met a worker by the name of Jimmy. He has been extruding plastics since the 70's. I told my frustrations to Jimmy and he said he started grinding plastics in the early 80's and made park benches out of it. He showed me a picture of a bench at his house he made in 1983 and I was amazed how well it still looked! Further discussing with him he gave me advice of what and how I could start doing this myself. I pitched the concept to a well respected intelligent fellow friend and he loved the concept and immediately saw the potential and possibility.
Further conversations and research have led to the conception of Sustainable Materials, Inc.
Our goal and plan is to consume as much raw wasted plastic material and form it into end user products. We have a positive, energetic, and willing team formed to make this idea a reality! With this goal we hope to reduce waste going into landfills and have a quality product for the end consumer. We plan to start with fence posts and lumber, but are open to expanding our options as we have more interest in the materials!
