Forget granite countertops from Vermont and marble kitchen islands from Italy. Now there are some really cool looking counter surfaces that don't require quarrying and shipping long distance.

Avonite produces a recycled collection which is made from 40% SCS-certified post-industrial scrap (equal to a recycled content value of 20%), as well as virgin polyester and Aluminium Trihydrate (ATH), which acts as both filler and fire retardant.

Bio-Glass solid surfacing for countertops, walls, floors, and other applications is made from 100% recycled glass, heated and agglomerated under pressure. There are no binders, colorants, fillers, or other admixtures. Depending on color, the product is either pre- or post-consumer, or a blend.

EcoTop comes from the creator of Paperstone, Joel Klippert. It is made from 50% recycled wood & paper, and 50% bamboo. The only tree fibers in the product are recycled fibers (vs. virgin fiber used in some other products). The resin that binds the wood, paper, and bamboo is 100% water base, and VOC and petroleum free. EcoTop is UV stable, and therefore will not fade, or change. There are three EcoTop colors in production at the company’s large capacity 300,000 sq/ft manufacturing plant in Tacoma, Washington: Black, Snow White, and Ivory (off-white). By the first quarter 2008 they expect to have ten colors in production. EcoTop is sold factory direct at this moment, but it won’t be that way for long. The product is soon to be sold via a nationwide network of whose/who of distributors and retailers!

Paperstone Certified is made with 100% FSC-certified, post-consumer recycled paper. The proprietary water-based resin system uses non-petroleum phenols, including cashew nut shell liquid derivatives. The finished product works easily with a triple-chip, carbide-tipped saw blade and carbide-tipped router bits.

Squak Mountain Stone is a precast, lightweight (14 lbs/sf), paper and cement-based composite with the appearance of natural stone. It is made with post-consumer recycled paper (2.5% by weight), pre-consumer crushed glass and fly ash (49%), and has no steel reinforcement.

Syndecrete is a cement-based, precast lightweight composite containing fly ash and post-industrial recycled polypropylene fiber waste from carpet manufacturing. To date, Syndecrete has developed 13 standard colors and a library of over 500 custom colors and mix designs. Applications of this high-end product include: countertops, table tops, tiles, fireplace surrounds, landscape elements, sinks, bathtubs/

Vetrazzo countertops have mixed colors of recycled-glass chips embedded in a masonry binder for a terrazzo-like look. Glass sources include decommissioned traffic lights, windshields, used bottles, and plate glass windows, offering an alternative to virgin materials.