THUNDER BAY - Eco Carbon Foam Inc. owners Viktor and Elena Rogalski are celebrating a big win for their business after they received certification for their recycled insulation products.
Eco Carbon Foam Inc. produces Type-4 rigid insulation foam board, which is commonly used below grade around walls and under the building slab or as a frost barrier, and is made from recycled polystyrene and manufactured using a non-ozone depleting process with zero physical waste.
The goal of the company is to create a high-quality product while being environmentally friendly, according to Elena.
“I told my husband when we started this business, if we do something, if we produce something, then we don’t want to have any waste. We came to Canada with an idea that it’s such a perfect land with nature, what wild nature, and beauty around us,” said Elena.
“So we didn’t want it to have such a huge impact on the environment and we heard that polystyrene is a type of plastic that basically nobody recycles and that’s when we got that idea that we can do it.”
Now that they have received the certificate, they can produce and sell their products anywhere in North America for building projects that ask for their particular building standards such as foam density and R-value.
Having this certification shows building inspectors, engineers, architects, and builders that their products meet or exceed all standards to ensure safety.
It’s been a long road traveled by Eco Carbon Foam Inc. In 2018, the owners started their journey by visiting the Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre looking for advice and support.
Since then, the two encountered major installation issues, a devastating fire, production challenges, difficulties with certification testing, and a pandemic.
Now the two are excited to begin selling their environmentally friendly insulation to supply stores, contractors, home builders, and renovators.
“Well, the environmental friendliness of our product certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed. Everybody is very happy with it. They’re very happy that we’re a local company,” said Jason Brassard, spokesperson.
“There are industry programs that recognize the environmental friendliness of various products so we will be able to serve that need for architectural drawings, et cetera. So it’s been really well received and I think it’ll open some additional doors for us.”
They also want to explore recycling partnerships in the city and will be looking to the community to start collecting discarded #6 plastics.
These #6 plastics, also known as polystyrene or by the brand name Styrofoam, are commonly found as packing material in boxes and used to keep their contents from breaking.
