VAST Blog

Press Release

Enterprises, LLC Expands Distribution into the Chicago Area with Illinois Brick Company

Illinois Brick Company, the Leading Distributor of Brick and Masonry Products to the Chicagoland Market, Adds a New Green Building Product: VAST Composite Pavers Made from Recycled Rubber and Plastics

CHICAGO and MINNEAPOLIS – January 20, 2010 – Today in Chicago, Ill. at the Mid-America (Mid-Am) Horticultural Trade Show, Illinois Brick Company and VAST Enterprises, LLC announced that Illinois Brick now supplies VAST composite masonry products to builders and contractors in the Chicago area. The expanding line of VAST composite masonry products — manufactured in VAST’s patented blend of recycled car tires and plastic containers — includes Composite Landscape Pavers, Composite Permeable Pavers for stormwater management, Composite Deck Pavers, and Composite Thin Brick.

The Mid-Am show is at McCormick Place West. Illinois Brick is located at booth #233. Illinois Brick and VAST are presenting VAST products, including the new 4×8-inch VAST Composite Landscape Paver, at booth #680 in the Sustainability Zone, which showcases the most innovative green products.

“With the growth of green building and more and more projects seeking LEED certification, we want to fulfill our customers’ demands for green building products,” said Jerry Vinci, president, Illinois Brick Company, Palos Hills, Ill. “VAST Composite Pavers are a proven green alternative and can contribute to more LEED credits than any other paver.”

“We are growing VAST into a nationally branded composite masonry company distributing green building products coast to coast,” said Andy Vander Woude, LEED AP, chief executive officer, VAST Enterprises, Minneapolis, Minn. “Illinois Brick is one of the biggest and best brick and masonry suppliers in the country and has earned an excellent reputation in the Chicago area for providing first-rate products, superior customer service and fast delivery to job sites.”

With its patented material science technology, VAST converts post-consumer recycled rubber and plastics into a new green building material: composite masonry. VAST achieved a technology breakthrough by engineering the first composite material that consists of up to 95 percent recycled content and has the strength, durability and appearance to offer an alternative to molded concrete and clay brick in landscape and hardscape applications.

All VAST composite products are cradle-to-cradle green. The manufacturing process starts with recycled tires and plastic containers, releases minimal greenhouse gas emissions (90 percent less carbon dioxide compared to concrete products), generates no volatile organic compounds, yields zero scrap, and creates products that are 100 percent recyclable. No other paver can help projects earn more LEED credits than VAST.

Download official press release here.