Polystyrene Waste: Not Just Peanuts
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Roseville has started an ambitious program to recycle polystyrene, just in time to handle packaging materials from holiday electronics gifts.
Recycling polystyrene is an expensive process: it costs $2,000 per ton to properly recycle, as opposed to glass at less than $100 per ton. The recycled polystyrene will be used to manufacture baseboards and moldings by Timbron located in Stockton, California.
To find out the nearest location to recycle your polystyrene, use the Earth911′s recycling locator.
As of June 17th 2011 we have upgraded our comment system to use Facebook comments.
The below comments are closed and are listed for historical purposes.
MPA
posted on January 23rd, 2009 at 4:51 pm
I encourage everyone to use the Earth 911 Recycle locator. Thanks to this search, I was able to find a place very close to where I live that accepts clean Styrofoam. I took to them more than 10 big pieces of Styrofoam packaging material that I got from the purchase of electronics. They accepted them with no problems at all.(Keller, TX)
claudia Bardasano
posted on February 3rd, 2009 at 1:36 pm
I am artist and I made work of art from plastic and Styrofoam. I am doing this since 1990 whe I found that I can transform garbage into ART.
http://www.claudiabardasano.com
claudia Bardasano
posted on February 3rd, 2009 at 2:00 pm
I am artist and I made work of art of waste plastic, all types of plastic. I am very happy doing these art since 1999 when I found that my styrofoam cup was desolve with the oil paint, and I decide to transforme wast in ART
Michael Montgomery
posted on February 10th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Polymer Sciences specializes in recycling Expanded Polystyrene (EPS or Styrofoam) materials. PSI processes this material into pellets for future downstream applications allowing the material to be re-used and kept from landfill. Although there are numerous applications for re-use, the costs for re-processing can be high, especially during a down economy. We have published important information regarding EPS processing and our ability to maintain this market on our web site. Please visit us at http://www.polymersciences.com for more information.
tigtag7
posted on February 26th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Sometimes we bring home leftovers from a restaurant in a Styrofoam box. My local recycler stopped accepting Styrofoam (food and packing) several months ago. One way we have reduced the waste is to wash and reuse these restaurant boxes. After washing thoroughly, a few of them of different sizes travel with us in a nice totebag when we go somewhere. When we stop to eat, the tote goes in the restaurant with us, and if we have leftover food to take home, we have our own boxes to use. Others may see our example and take the hint! Wouldn’t it be nice to start a trend like this one??
Stacy
posted on March 28th, 2009 at 10:20 am
I was so excited to find your website today when trying to find how to recycle styrofoam. After all, it has a recycling number, so it MUST be recyclable, right? However, none of my local curbside services have ever accepted it, and the drop off sites don’t either. And when I ask around to friends and others in my community, nobody has a clue. How discouraging. Even my husband, who knows I am a recycling freak, was surprised to hear that I don’t know of anyplace local to recycle this item. So, sadly, we have been throwing it in the trash. For years. Ugh. So fast forward to today. I find your site. I find the Earth 911 Recycle locator. It lists a site near me, so with hesitation, I call to find out if they really DO take styrofoam. And the person who answered says they do not accept styrofoam because “it can’t be recycled”. Shocked at the answer (because I already KNOW that it “can” be recycled), she says, “it is not recyclable”. To which I respond and say that actually it IS recyclable, and it CAN be recycled, however, most places locally do not accept it. I know nothing is ever easy, so I am going to address this with my local resources and see what I can get started here. As much of it as I see as a consumer, in packaging and take out containers and more, I know (not just think) something needs to be done NOW to keep this out of our landfills. I cannot continue to throw this in the trash knowing that it CAN be recycled. Thanks for the inspiration to keep plugging away. I am gonna need all the inspiration I can get. It sounds like a tough road ahead. It is really discouraging to feel like I am trying to help my community, but it sure isn’t easy feeling like the only one who cares and knows it is possible. Especially when I am guessing it is all about money.
Bryan
posted on April 9th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
I am in the styrofoam recycling industry and it DOES NOT cost anywhere close to $2000.00 per pound to recycle it is closer to .15 cents per pound and that INCLUDES the transportation to get it to me LOOSE. Once again we have a tree hugger (I’m one too) giving our bogus information to the public. If you would like more info on this please contacty me.
Trey Granger
posted on April 9th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Bryan,
Good catch, as that was meant to say “$2,000 per ton.” We’ve corrected the article.
Thomas
posted on April 14th, 2009 at 9:12 am
Trey,
Your article still is not correct, it says “it costs $2,000 per ton to properly recycle, as opposed to glass at less than $100 per pound” 1ton = 2000lbs so 2000lbs X $100 = $200,000 per ton to recycle glass. Get your facts straight before you post.
Trey Granger
posted on April 14th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Another good catch, as that should also be tons. We’ve fixed the link to the original source, in case there is any more confusion.
Laura
posted on September 18th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
For the most part, with an exception of the recyclable products, I burn my trash. Am I understanding correctly that burning polystyrene and styrofoam omits dangerous chemicals into the air? We don’t have anywhere to recycle these products and I’d hate for them to sit piled up in a landfill, but it’s like there’s no win win here. Also, just like most schools these days, they use styrofoam trays and cups. I’m trying to find a better method with the limited rescourses available. Should I STOP burning polystyrene and styrofoam with all my other nonrecyclable trash?