Many business owners have to face the difficulty or the challenge to recycle styrofoam. Not all attempts to re-use this material are successful, particularly when it takes great efforts to get rid of large amounts of left overs. Styrofoam is very cheap to produce, so it should not take too complex procedures to dispose of it. One of the first methods to recycle styrofoam was that of melting and using it for the extraction of the raw material without ever needing any form of toxic solvents. Before you think about how to recycle styrofoam, we should definitely find some solutions for reusing it.
Also known as polystyrene, styrofoam has one of the most varied usages in the package industrial sector: it is light, easy and cheap to manufacture, not to mention that it creates excellent protection environments for fragile merchandise. Knowing how many things are actually made of polystyrene should definitely increase the desire to recycle styrofoam. Coffee cups and salad boxes, plates, containers, meat trays, egg and milk cartons and a lot more, are just some of the polystyrene packages that we use on a daily basis. However, in order to be able to recycle styrofoam from such items, they need to be cleaned and gathered in massive amounts.
Think of the loose styrofoam peanuts used for the packaging of various items; such light-weight materials are great for the transportation of special electric and delicate equipment: computers, TV sets or other items. Styrofoam peanuts can be taken to local businesses that reuse it for the packaging or storing of their products. Do not attempt to take the packages you have at home to recycling plants since it is prohibited to receive recycle stryrofoam in quantities other than industrial. So, don’t get discouraged by the lack of options you may be facing; there could be ways of actually re-using the items ingeniously.
Before you attempt to recycle styrofoam, there are a few steps you need to do, as this material has to meet several quality features in order to be properly re-processed. Thus, there should be no traces of plastic, glue or cardboard on the polystyrene packages. If you ship a container, you need to think of how to make more styrofoam occupy less space; one solution would be that of cutting the foam into small pieces and then store it for shipping. As for identification, the recycle styrofoam number is six, a resin identification code that you’ll find on many foam plastic packages.
Muna wa Wanjiru Has Been Researching and Reporting on Recycling for Years. For More Information on Recycle Styrofoam, Visit His Site at RECYCLE STYROFOAM
Enjoyed this article?
More information on Go Green Tips!
