Port Angeles, Wash.-based Composite Recycling Technology Center has received $10,000 in seed money from the city’s Parks and Recreation Department for a pilot project to create park benches with recycled CFRP. According to CRTC’s CEO Bob Larsen, the money will offset the costs of prototyping and a portion of development costs.
As Larsen explains, CRTC had been in talks with the city for the past few months about contributing to Port Angeles’ longstanding memorial bench project. He says the benches the city has been using for the past 20 years have been made with treated wood and steel, two conventional materials that corrode and rust due to the presence of saltwater. Larsen says that every 5-6 years, the city has to replace and recondition these benches, and that the cost of doing so has become excessive. He contends that CRTC’s recycled carbon fiber, combined with a specialized UV coating, makes benches lighter and provides 50 years of durability. Carbon fiber/coating combination also makes it easy to remove graffiti from the benches.
“The more we looked at it, the more we realized this is a pretty good market,” Larsen said.
