Can Styrofoam Be Recycled?

Polystyrene foam is one of the most widely used types of plastic. It appears in everything from takeout boxes, drink containers, and egg cartons to the packing peanuts that protect items during shipment.

You’ve probably stood before a pair of trash and recycling bins, wondering, "Is Styrofoam recyclable?" It's important to note that "Styrofoam" is actually the brand name for a rigid blue insulation product made by Dow Chemical, not the soft white foam used in takeaway coffee cups.

That being said, polystyrene is an incredibly adaptable material, though recycling it can be quite a challenge.

What Is Polystyrene Foam?

The term "polystyrene" refers to plastic derived from styrene, a liquid hydrocarbon. When heated, individual styrene molecules bond into long chains, forming a polymer that solidifies as it cools. This clear, hard plastic was first developed in Germany during the 1930s and is used for making items like CD and DVD cases and plastic cutlery.

In 1941, Dow scientist Ray McIntyre developed extruded polystyrene foam (Styrofoam), a lightweight, waterproof material originally used for life rafts. Expanded polystyrene foam (EPS), a similar substance, has since been used in even more applications.

EPS is made up of about 95 percent air, making it an excellent insulator. This is why it’s found in beer coolers, home insulation, and in polystyrene cups that keep your coffee warm without burning your fingers. Its lightness also makes EPS ideal for providing buoyancy in life vests and rafts, as well as for cushioning goods during shipping, offering protection with minimal weight.

Additionally, EPS is non-reactive with other materials and heat-resistant, making it widely used in the food industry, for items such as meat and poultry trays and the containers used for fast-food hamburgers.

Recycling Styrofoam

Yet, some of the same features that make polystyrene so practical can also make it difficult to recycle.

Its lightweight nature means that foam packing often blows away, turning into litter and making it tough to collect through curbside recycling programs. Furthermore, its bulkiness complicates transportation and makes it costly. As a result, many local recycling programs don’t accept it.

A major challenge with plastic recycling in general is the need to sort materials by their resin identification code — the number located at the bottom of containers that indicates the type of plastic used.

Certain plastics, like those labeled 1 (for soda and water bottles), 2 (used for laundry detergent and similar containers), and 4 (commonly found in plastic bags), are easier to separate and recycle.

Polystyrene, represented by the number 6, introduces more challenges. While bottles for water and soda are generally clean when discarded, polystyrene used in food and drink containers often gets contaminated with paper, food remnants, and other plastics, such as straws from EPS cups.

Typically, Styrofoam or polystyrene cannot be recycled at local facilities. Instead, they must be sent to specialized processing centers, raising costs for recyclers and diminishing the incentive to recycle.

Recycling EPS comes with additional difficulties. It's not suitable for products in direct contact with food due to health risks, even though the recycling process does sterilize the material. Instead, manufacturers may reuse recycled EPS for packaging and other products, but fresh EPS is always necessary for items like coffee cups and plates.

What is the most effective method for recycling polystyrene, and how might bacteria play a role in the process in the future?

Methods for Recycling Polystyrene Foam

According to the Alliance for Foam Packaging Recycling, the polystyrene sector reports a recycling rate of roughly 12 percent, but this statistic also includes scraps from EPS production that are immediately reused.

The reality is that producing new polystyrene is often cheaper and more convenient than recycling the material. Since tossing Styrofoam into the recycling bin isn't effective, here are some better alternatives.

Reuse Your Items

The simplest way to recycle polystyrene for consumers is by reusing it. While this may not be ideal for items like coffee cups or plastic forks, it's perfect for packaging materials.

You can gather packing peanuts and reuse them. Shippers might also break down rigid packaging into smaller sections to create loose packing material. UPS even accepts packing peanuts from the public for recycling purposes.

Reprocessing

Reprocessing refers to the process of turning old polystyrene into new products, offering the plastic a second life. For instance, Dart Container Corporation, the leading producer of polystyrene food containers, operates four plants in the U.S. and Canada that collect EPS from schools, supermarkets, hospitals, and other users.

Here’s the reprocessing procedure at their facilities:

Reducing Volume

Transporting truckloads of lightweight, bulky polystyrene to recycling centers is often not cost-effective. To address this, recyclers have developed methods to compress the material into a more manageable form. Balers, for example, can compress foam packaging, reducing its bulk to some extent.

One approach involves using limonene, a natural solvent derived from orange peels. Limonene dissolves and concentrates EPS, and it can be reused. This solvent causes EPS foam to "melt" without heat, shrinking it to just 5 percent of its original size. Thermal compaction, on the other hand, uses heat to compress chopped EPS into a dense brick that is easier to transport.

When polystyrene is burned in municipal incinerators, it produces only carbon dioxide and water vapor. It's an effective fuel for waste-to-energy programs that capture the heat generated and convert it into usable energy, a process known as thermal recycling.

If recycling polystyrene seems like a lot of work, you might wonder why it's worth the effort. Read on to discover the benefits of doing so.

Upcycled 'Wood'

A fascinating application of recycled EPS is a product that mimics wood and can be used by builders for constructing park benches and fence posts. This material is more affordable than hardwood and serves as a sustainable alternative to rainforest woods like mahogany and teak.

Producing polystyrene requires petroleum, a finite resource. Therefore, recycling polystyrene helps reduce the amount of oil needed in manufacturing. However, it's important to note that some energy is still used in transportation and the reprocessing of the material.

One of the most noticeable benefits of polystyrene recycling is the reduction of litter on both land and in the ocean. EPS is impervious to oxygen, sunlight, and water, meaning it remains indefinitely in the environment. Municipalities incur costs to clean it up. This is why cities like San Francisco and Seattle have implemented bans on EPS in takeout food packaging.

Why Recycling EPS is Worth the Effort

Polystyrene occupies space in landfills, where it can persist for centuries. The industry contends that this is not a significant issue because modern landfills are sealed off from moisture and light, and are designed to prevent biodegradation. Even organic matter fails to decompose once it enters a landfill.

Polystyrene also presents a danger to marine life. Over time, as EPS breaks down, it turns into small particles that resemble food to fish. Marine animals may ingest these particles, which then block their digestive systems, leading to their deaths.

It is estimated that EPS accounts for 60 to 80 percent of marine debris, according to a 2008 review published in Environmental Research. Recycling efforts can help minimize the amount of EPS that ends up in the ocean.

Recycling consumer polystyrene also prevents it from being burned in backyard fires or burn barrels. When burned, polystyrene can release harmful chemicals unless it is incinerated in proper, efficient facilities.

The advantages and challenges of recycling polystyrene illustrate the complex issues that arise when we seek to conserve resources and safeguard the environment. As with the recycling of polystyrene, the solutions are rarely straightforward.

However, we can't necessarily sidestep the issue by opting for alternative materials.

For instance, the paper cup that holds your takeout coffee often has a plastic lining, making it non-recyclable. It also fails to decompose in landfills. Even reusable containers, such as ceramic cups, consume significantly more energy to produce than polystyrene cups, and continue to require energy for washing and reheating the water used.

While there may be long-term savings, the decision isn't as straightforward as it may appear.

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