Get Expanded Polystyrene Molded Packaging Recycling Project Solicitation - LinkUp Program - King County

Yes! Although EPS is not recycled by local authorities, compacted EPS is commonly recycled by recycling companies worldwide, using waste materials such as fish box packaging and food trays from manufacturers and turning them into insulation materials for the building trade.

Put this item in your curbside garbage cart. Place your curbside garbage cart at the curb by 6 a.m. on your scheduled collection day. Styrofoam can also be recycled at Styro Recycle's free drop-off location! For more information, please visit .styrorecycle.com.

Collect the waste: First, the EPS is collected separately and cleaned of other material. It can e.g. take place in shops where EPS is sorted from other packaging materials or at recycling sites where the EPS is sorted from other types of waste etc.

Not many people know that EPS is 100% recyclable. Clean material can be reused in the manufacturing process of new poly boxes. Any slightly contaminated material can be compacted and turned into recycled rigid plastic products.

How does Styrofoam recycling work? To recycle foam packaging, it is cleaned then shredded before being melted down into a paste then turned into pellets. These pellets are able to be sent to manufactures to produce new products.

While polystyrene is known to be cost-effective, it's unfortunately very difficult and costly to recycle (despite being stamped with the #6 “chasing arrows” symbol). Most recycling facilities are unable to process EPS because, unlike other plastics, it's challenging to get back in its base form.

The process of recycling EPS foam begins by feeding the material to a shredding machine via conveyor belt. Once shredded, the EPS foam enters a plastic extruder where the foam is exposed to heat and pressure to melt the EPS foam. This process if called densification.

Now, recycled EPS can't be used to make insulated cups, foam trays or anything else that will come in contact with food. However, it can be used to make items like outdoor furniture, roofing tiles, coat hangers, seedling containers, door and window frames, packing peanuts and so much more.