There is life.

Through long years of hard wear and tear, reliable and dedicated service, triumphant wins and devastating losses; Porter's products have been there and performed to the highest standards. However, at some piont all good things come to an end.

Because the materials in many of Porter's products are recyclable, the end is just the beginning.

Steel: Found in products like basketball backboards, large mast pipes, portable backstops, outdoor basketball systems, soccer goals, bike racks, football goal posts, discus cages, and physical education equipment, steel is a recycling powerhouse!

Steel is the most widely recycled material in the United States. The steel industry has been avidly recyucling for longer than 150 years, mainly becuase it's the smart thing to do. It is less expensive to recycle steel than to mine new iron ore and precess it to form new steel. Steel does no lose any of its original physical properties during the recycling process, so quality is not an issue. By recycling steel instead of using natural resources, steelmakers save enough energy to power 20 million households for one year.

Recycled steel can go right back into making the same products it came from! For more information on Steel including recycling information, check out this PDF from recycle-steel.org:

Steel Information Sheet

Aluminum: This versatile material is found in such Porter products as: basketball backboards, indoor and outdoor volleyball systems, soccer goals, football goal posts, and outdoor seating systems.

According to Reynolds Metal company, " Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run your TV for three hours." Now imagine what recycling a football goal post could do! Recycling aluminum, like cans for example, has a short turn around time, in jsut 6 weeks the can may be manufactured, filled, sold, recycled, and then remanufactured. Like steel, recycling aluminum also saves a lot of energy: by recycling, 95% less energy is used to manufacture the material than if it was created 'new'.

Besides cans, reycled aluminum is also used in cars, packaging, extrusions for building and construction, and future Porter products.

Vinyl: Vinyl is used in many of Porter's products. Wall pads, gym divider curtains, portable backstop padding, volleyball system padding, and more.

According to the Vinyl Institure all types of vinyl can be reclaimed to use in second generations products. A study in 1999 by Principia Partners, found that in 1997, more than one billion pounds of vinyl were recovered and recycled into functional products in North America. The Vinyl Institute has a list on their website that allows users to find and search for vinyl recyclers and recycled vinyl producers:

Vinyl Recyclers

Recycled Vinyl Manufacturers

Foam: Foam is used in many different types of padding made by Porter. specifically polyurethane foam is used in the FR-XXTRA Firm Foams and the cross-linked visco-elastic foam pads. This foam is readily recycled into second generation products like rebonded foam padding. This rebond foam is used for carpet cushioning and underlays, mats, and also is used in the 2" and 3" rebonded foam pads madeby Porter. These pads contain 100% recycled foam, some pre-consumer, and some post-consumer- exact percentages are unknown.

For more information on foam recycling, check out this informational document:

In-Touch information on flexible Polyurethane Foam

OSB: Oriented strand board is manufactured from quickly growing, small trees instead of old growth. The fibers are oriented in such a way to provide maximum strength. According to teh Sustainable Design Resource Guide, this material is renewable, has recycled content, is recyclable, and biodegradable.

OSB is used in most of the padding supplied by Porter as supportive backing.

OSB Environmental Information Sheet