Armstrong’s Ceiling Recycling Program Passes 6,000,000 Square Foot Milestone

CHICAGO, June 10 – Armstrong World Industries today announced that its Ceiling Recycling Program has already diverted more than six million square feet of old acoustical ceiling tiles from landfills since the inception of the program just three years ago. 

The program, which is the first of it kind, enables building owners to quickly and easily ship old ceilings from renovation projects to an Armstrong ceiling plant as an alternative to landfill disposal.  Under the program, Armstrong even pays freight costs for shipping the old ceilings, which it uses as raw materials in the manufacture on new, high-performance acoustical ceilings.

Since it introduced the program in 1999, Armstrong has recycled 6,070,000 square feet of discarded ceiling tiles, or enough ceiling tiles to cover 125 football fields. This total also represents 4,249,350 pounds, or more than 2,100 tons, of construction waste that would have normally been dumped in landfills.

According to Joann Davis Brayman, Armstrong’s Vice President of Marketing for Commercial Ceilings, the company has a long history of diverting post-industrial and post-consumer waste from landfills by using waste from other industries to manufacture its ceilings.  The recycling program takes this environmental heritage a step further. 

“The Ceiling Recycling Program is designed to help our customers reduce their impact on the environment by redirecting used ceiling tiles from landfills back to Armstrong, thereby creating a closed loop manufacturing process,” she says.  “We have made a pledge to manufacture our products in an environmentally responsible fashion.  Through the recycling program, we honor that commitment by offering a valuable end to what typically would have been thrown away.”

The program involves three simple steps.  First, building owners need to verify with Armstrong that their old ceiling tiles can be recycled.  The old tiles do not need to be Armstrong products to qualify for the program.

Following verification, owners must stack their old ceiling tiles on pallets and wrap them for pick-up.  More detailed information on packaging procedures is available from Armstrong.

Once there is a full trailer load of old ceilings, the owner simply needs to contact Armstrong.  The company will then arrange for a truck to pick up the material anywhere in the continental United States and transfer it to its nearest manufacturing facility.  Armstrong will pay the freight for shipment to the plant.

The process for recycling old ceilings has proven to be nearly as fast as dumping them, so the program has little, if any, adverse impact on demolition schedules.  It can also be less costly than the cost of local handling, transport, dumpster and landfill fees.

Among the environmentally sensitive companies that have already participated in the program in their attempts to reduce landfill disposal of building materials are Herman Miller, Microsoft, Aetna, Food Lion, Stop and Shop, and others.

All Armstrong ceilings contain recycled materials, and many consist of more than two-thirds recycled content.  While a portion of the content is old scrap ceiling material, Armstrong also uses waste products from other industries to manufacture its new ceilings.  Most of that waste is in the form of old newspapers and other newsprint, and a by-product of steel production called “mineral wool.”

To obtain additional information on the Ceiling Recycling Program, call 1-877-ARMSTRONG (1-877-276-7876) or visit www.armstrong.com.

Armstrong World Industries, a subsidiary of Armstrong Holdings, Inc., is a global leader in the design, innovation and manufacture of floors, ceilings and cabinets.  In 2001, Armstrong’s net sales totaled more than $3.0 billion.  Based in Lancaster, PA, Armstrong has 57 plants in 14 countries and nearly 16,000 employees worldwide.