If you run a plant that cuts, molds or fabricates flexible polyurethane foam, you generate scrap every shift. Most plants pay to have it hauled away. A lot of them are paying to dispose of material somebody would write them a check for.
Here is exactly how selling it works, start to finish, including the parts nobody tells you.
Step 1. Send us what the material is
You do not need to know grades or densities. We do. Send:
- Photos, baled and unbaled. The unbaled photos matter more than people expect. That is where we see colour mix, contamination, and what the material actually is.
- What one bale weighs.
- Roughly how many bales go on a 53-foot trailer.
- City and state. Freight is a real cost and the lane changes the number.
- How often you fill a truck. A plant that makes a load a month is a different conversation from one clearing out a warehouse once.
You will normally have a price back within an hour or two.
Step 2. We quote you
We quote per pound. The price moves on a handful of things:
- Grade. Clean ether scrap and cloth laminate are not the same material and do not carry the same price.
- Cleanliness. Contamination is the fastest way to lose value on an otherwise good load.
- Bale quality. Well-built bales that do not bust in transit protect the value of the load. Here is why bales bust and how to prevent it.
- Volume and consistency. Regular tonnage is worth more to us than a one-off, and we price accordingly.
- Your freight lane. Where you are relative to where the material needs to go.
- The market. Foam scrap is a commodity. It moves.
If the number works, we go. If it does not, we will tell you why, and usually what would need to change.
Step 3. We book the truck
Once you tell us a load is ready, we arrange the freight and set the pickup appointment with your shipping department. We pay the freight. You do not source a carrier, you do not negotiate a rate, and you do not see a freight invoice.
Our logistics people deal with plant managers and carriers all day. Tell us your dock hours and any appointment requirements and we will work inside them.
Step 4. The truck gets weighed, twice
This is the part worth understanding, because it is where trust in this business is won or lost.
The truck is weighed empty and weighed loaded, both on a certified scale. The difference is your weight. Not an estimate, not a bale count multiplied by an average, not our word for it.
You get both weight tickets. The invoice is written against those tickets. If our number and your number ever disagree, the scale settles it.
Step 5. You get paid
Net 30 from invoice.
Residue National has been buying scrap foam since 1993 and has never missed those terms. If your situation calls for something faster, ask. We would rather have the conversation than lose the load.
What we need from you
Everything must be baled. We cannot pick up loose foam. Nobody in this trade can, and it is not a preference, it is physics and freight economics. A trailer of loose foam is a trailer of air. If you are new to this, we have written up how scrap foam is baled, step by step.
No plastic, no metal, no Velcro. Not in any bale. A single contaminated bale can devalue or reject an entire load, and the plant that sent it usually never finds out why the relationship went cold.
Stored inside. Foam that has been sitting out in weather is worthless. Keep it under a roof from the moment it is baled.
Volume. Full truckloads are the norm and 20,000 lbs and up is the usual range, but we handle smaller quantities regularly. If you have got good material and less of it, call. Do not assume you are too small.
What if we do not have a baler?
Then today we cannot buy from you, and neither can anyone else. That is the honest answer, and it is where most plants stop looking.
It should not be. Balers come in a range of sizes and prices, and the right one depends on how much foam you generate, how much floor space you have, and how often you would run it. We have been around this equipment for thirty years. We know what works and we know who sells it.
And for the right plant, we will supply the baler. If you generate steady material, the equipment does not have to be a capital decision you make alone. It can be part of the arrangement.
Even setting that aside, a baler often pays for itself out of what you stop spending on disposal, before you count a cent of what the foam is worth.
Call us before you sign another hauling contract.
Where we pick up
Anywhere in North America. We are a national buyer. If you are in the United States, Canada or Mexico and your material is baled, we can get a truck to you.
Send us your material and we will price it
Photos baled and unbaled, weight per bale, bales per trailer, your city and state, and how often you fill a truck. That is all we need.
Or call (914) 729-1000.