It’s not the Oscars, but the Plastic Recycling Awards showcase innovation for a better future.

And the award goes to…

The ACC (American Chemistry Council) recently announced the winners of this year’s Innovation in Plastics Recycling Awards, which are awarded to companies as well as non-profits who have come up with recycling innovations or are actively involved in innovative ways to encourage and educate the public about recycling.

Demilic Inc. is the first of the three winners. Based in Texas, this company has recycled over 300 million plastic bottles into spray-foam insulation products. Not only is this an innovative way to recycle plastics, but spray-foam itself is an excellent way to conserve energy by reducing gas-based heating use.

The second company to receive this award was Publix Super Markets of Florida. This company used a back-of-store process to transform plastics into clean and ready-to-use recycled plastic.

The third organization to be awarded by the ACC was TRP, The Recycling Partnership. This organization distributed more than 110,000 plastic collection bins, and with an additional 18,000 people now concentrating on recycling efforts, the result of their efforts in Virginia and its surrounding states is an estimated 22 million pounds of plastic to be recycled over the course of the next decade.

Steve Russel, vice president of plastics for the American Chemistry Council was quoted as saying,

“We are thrilled to recognize this year’s award recipients. Each of these organizations is a leader in recycling innovation, and their contributions will likely inspire ongoing contributions to the rapidly growing field of plastics recycling.”

These are the companies and organizations that have gone out of their way to make our universe better and cleaner, and as such should be recognized and appreciated for their efforts.