Resources for Recycling Expanded Polystyrene

Photo by Caleb Lucas on Unsplash

Expanded polystyrene, or EPS, is a lightweight, closed-cell plastic foam used in a variety of products, including coolers, insulated beverage cups, takeout containers, building insulation, etc. This differs from extruded polystyrene (XPS), which is typically formed into rigid panels used for building insulation, mainly in terms of how it is manufactured, but also in terms of thermal protection, moisture resistance, and strength. Styrofoam is a brand name of XPS insulation manufactured by DuPont. Despite these differences, the similar products have become synonymous in the minds of most people, and just as certain brand names for facial tissue and bandages eventually became the common terms for those products, most people refer to EPS products as “Styrofoam.” In this blog post, when you read “EPS” or “expanded polystyrene,” know that this refers to the materials you likely think of as “Styrofoam” packaging–though DuPont would be quick to point out they’re not the same thing!

For several years, departments at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have been encouraged to recycle EPS at a drop-off location just outside the Dart Container plant in Urbana, IL. Recycling EPS is often not economically feasible basically because foam packaging is mostly air, and the fuel needed to ship large amounts of the bulky, lightweight material for processing would often not be offset by money obtained by selling it. Dart manufactures EPS products however, and thus, accepting and recycling it is in line with a sense of extended producer responsibility for the management of those products at their end-of-life, especially since EPS pollution famously takes hundreds of years to break down in the environment. The Urbana Dart plant used equipment to heat, extrude, and compress foam packaging into blocks of material that could be used for products such as picture frames, surfboards, or park benches. This YouTube video shows a similar operation in a California plant.

Earlier this year, however, Dart unfortunately announced that the Urbana plant would be closing by the end of 2023. While this is tragic mainly due to the loss of jobs and the potential blow to the local economy, it also means the loss of an outlet many people relied upon to keep EPS packaging out of the landfill. In fact, the City of Champaign ‘Where Do I Recycle It?’ resource reports that Dart closed their Styrofoam drop-off center in Urbana on Friday, September 29, 2023.

Obviously, the best approach, even before the sad news about Dart’s Urbana plant was announced, has always been to avoid EPS products whenever possible precisely because of the difficulties in recycling the material. But avoidance isn’t always possible for consumers, especially since EPS is so widely used in food and beverage packaging, to protect breakable products, and to regulate the temperature of various items during shipping—including items intended for laboratories. So, while alternatives are important to explore (and might be the subject of a future post), this post focuses on options that might help people in Champaign County divert EPS in the near term. Although the inspiration for this post is the change in opportunities to recycle EPS locally, many of the options below are applicable in other parts of the state or U.S.

Other foam drop-off sites (for those not in Champaign County)

To be clear, Dart is not going out of business or closing all its facilities, and the company does still offer public drop-off EPS collection points at various places in the U.S., including elsewhere in IL—just not in the Champaign-Urbana area anymore. To find out whether there’s a Dart public drop-off near you, visit https://www.dartcontainer.com/why-dart/sustainability/foam-recycling and search their map.

The Food Service Packaging Institute’s website includes a map showing EPS foam recycling drop-off sites throughout the U.S. and includes some basic information about foam recycling. See https://www.recyclefoam.org/about-foam-recycling to learn more and to search for a drop-off near you.

Dart’s Next Life Program

Besides their public drop-off collections, in April 2023 Dart also announced a mail-in product take back program called Next Life. This program is restricted to Dart brand products, but it is not restricted to EPS—Dart packaging made from paper (specifically from the Bare by Solo brand), polyethylene terephthalate (PET, #1), polypropylene (PP, #5) and expanded polystyrene (#6 foam) are all acceptable products. This program is not free, or particularly easy, however. To participate, consumers can visit https://take-back.dartcontainer.com/ and indicate which of these three packaging categories they’re interested in recycling. Then “proof of purchase” images must be uploaded, which might be in the form of scanned store receipts, invoices, or product photos. Once the images are uploaded, the consumer must then purchase a “discounted shipping label” by paying for flat rate shipping for the material ($9 for a maximum box size of 20″ x 30″ x 11” when the process was tested during the writing of this post). The purchased label can be printed out and used to ship the items back to Dart.

While this is better than nothing, the process is convoluted and inconvenient for consumers and is restricted to Dart products. Only die-hard individual environmental advocates, or organizations and businesses committed to zero waste, are likely to jump through the necessary hoops and pay to participate. Coupled with efforts to reduce relevant types of waste or avoid them altogether, this program can help keep some remaining unavoidable packaging out of landfills, so it’s worth keeping in mind.

Terracycle Zero Waste Box

If your organization or business generates a fair amount of EPS waste, you may wish to consider Terracycle’s “Styrofoam – Zero Waste Box™” as an option for recycling all sorts of EPS food packaging and shipping waste, so long as there is no food or other organics contamination on the foam. You buy a collection box with a pre-paid shipping label, seal it when full and send it back to Terracycle. This is very convenient but expensive—the box comes in three size options, with the smallest (11”x 11” x 20”)  costing $107. There are discounts for purchasing collection boxes in bulk (15+).

Packing Peanuts (Loose Fill)

EPS foam packing peanuts (aka loose fill packaging) were never accepted as part of Dart’s public recycling drop-off in Urbana. Local shipping businesses may accept them for reuse, however, as long as they’re clean and dry. It’s always advisable to call these companies first to confirm they will accept these before taking any to their location. The City of Champaign “Where Do I Recycle” page suggests contacting the UPS Store on Marketview Drive in Champaign, or CU Pack N Ship (formerly Mail & Parcel Plus). Note that the foam recycling map at https://www.recyclefoam.org/about-foam-recycling, mentioned above, can be searched specifically for loose fill recycling options.

Polystyrene Coolers

Many local laboratories, including those on the University of Urbana-Champaign campus, receive materials in polystyrene coolers. Laboratories should keep in mind that Millipore Sigma has a polystyrene cooler return program for U.S. customers, which is relatively easy and free for the consumer. See https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/US/en/services/support/recycling/polystyrene-cooler-return-program for details.

Several sources related to laboratory waste recycling suggest that New England Biolabs (NEB) have a similar polystyrene cooler take-back program, but that information seems to be out of date because NEB no longer uses EPS coolers. NEB now ships its products in an alternative to EPS, called the ClimaCell® cooler, created in conjunction with TemperPack, which is 100% recyclable. See https://www.neb.com/en-us/tools-and-resources/video-library/introducing-the-neb-climacell-cooler to learn more. If your laboratory or other business ships items that require temperature control, you might consider contacting TemperPack for options that suit your needs. See https://www.temperpack.com/climacell/.

Corning Packaging Take Back

Laboratories should also be aware that Corning will take back all Corning®, Falcon®, or Axygen® product packaging—including EPS centrifuge tube racks. Other acceptable wastes include pipette tip boxes and plastic bags and peelable lidding film paper from cell culture dishes, plates, and flasks, #2 or #4 only. See https://corning.mailthisback.com/ for further details and to print a pre-paid shipping label.

Other Mail-Back Options

Finally, the EPS Industry Alliance has a list of mail-back options at https://static1.squarespace.com/static/62e5bccd5d8f2e718d48d121/t/643ff95d6ef7d36ad9920d25/1686167676074/EPS+Mail+Back+Locations.pdf. There are eight locations in the Midwest region, though none are in IL.

Hopefully, these resources will help you divert unavoidable EPS from landfills. Are you aware of other EPS recycling programs? Share your knowledge with our zero waste team at istc-zerowaste@illinois.edu.

“Green” your Halloween with these seasonal waste diversion programs

What do the members of the ISTC Technical Assistance Program’s zero waste team fear the most? Unnecessary waste! Think about all the products and packaging sent off to be prematurely buried in landfills before their useful “lives” are truly over–it makes our blood run cold. To avoid being haunted by the ghosts of poorly managed materials, check out the following Halloween waste diversion programs to keep waste out of landfills.

Please note that links and/or mentions of organizations or businesses are provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as endorsements by the Technical Assistance Program, ISTC, the Prairie Research Institute, or the University of Illinois.

Pumpkin Smash Events

Did you know that IL leads the nation in production of pumpkins? Did you further know that pumpkins are mostly water? A great deal of labor, land, water, and other resources are invested in growing, harvesting, and distributing pumpkins in our state, and many of them end up being used for brief decorations that may wind up in landfills after Halloween has passed.

Pumpkin “Smash” events are events to collect jack-o-lanterns and other pumpkins for composting. They’re held on the Saturday after Halloween (November 5th this year), and may involve fun activities in which people can “smash” their pumpkins by throwing them into a designated dumpster or compost heap. Some events even involve pumpkin “chucking” with catapults! SCARCE has helped Pumpkin Smashes grow to over 59 sites across IL since 2014, and their efforts have even inspired communities outside of IL to host their own pumpkin collections. According to the SCARCE website, the 2021 Pumpkin Smash events collectively composted over 242 tons of pumpkins! See https://www.scarce.org/pumpkins/ for more information, including a map of registered events in the state, a guide for hosting a Pumpkin Smash to help with planning for next year, a form to register your local event so it will be included on the aforementioned map, and example flyers and other resources to help spread the word. See this recent Illinois Food Scrap Coalition blog post and flyer developed by Go Green Winnetka for further information.

Flyer for Pumpkin Smash Event at the Landscape Recycling Center in Urbana, IL.

Candy Wrapper Recycling Programs

When you’re hosting a Halloween party or having kids trick-or-treat at the homes of people you know and trust, there are opportunities to pass out/receive homemade or minimally-packaged bulk treats and reduce the amount of plastic packaging associated with Halloween festivities. However, the reality is that many people pass out candy to or collect candy from strangers; plus, many of us like to purchase Halloween candy to share with coworkers or our family during the month of October as part of celebrating. The result is lots of plastic packaging ending up in landfills because such material is not collected in typical recycling programs because the form or components of the packaging make them difficult to recycle. There are however, a couple of options that can help divert the seasonal increase in candy wrappers from the landfill.

Trick or trash box
Trick or Trash collection box available from Rubicon.

Rubicon, in collaboration with the National Wildlife Foundation, annually offers a Trick or Trash program, in which schools, independent small businesses, and community organizations can order FREE candy wrapper collection boxes. Organizations receive their collection boxes through the UPS Carbon Neutral Shipment program, set them up and collect wrappers until their box is full. Then, boxes are sealed and mailed back using a pre-affixed label. Each participating organization gets a certificate of recycling confirming how many wrappers they diverted from landfill. The recycled plastic can be used to make “doggie bags” used at animal shelters for animal waste collection. See https://www.rubicon.com/trick-or-trash/how-it-works/ for more information, and https://www.rubicon.com/trick-or-trash/#block_5aee8cc625f6cfa2532fd2b387a4e675 to order a free box. Educational materials, including lesson plans, are available at https://www.rubicon.com/trick-or-trash/education/. Note that teachers and organizations are limited to one free box to ensure that more people across the country can participate, and you should allow at least a week for shipping. So if you order a free box now, you might plan to collect wrappers right after Halloween, rather than at Halloween events. Individuals or larger business might choose to purchase a box for participation.

TerraCycle also sells “zero waste boxes” for various hard-to-recycle waste streams, including candy and snack wrapper zero waste boxes. That company also collaborates with various Subaru locations nationwide that host collection boxes for items including disposable cups, lids, straws, candy and snack wrappers, and coffee and creamer capsules. Learn more on the TerraCycle Subaru Loves the Earth web page and search for a participating location near you.

Learn more about reducing and reusing on Halloween

How can I help influence the takeout containers restaurants are purchasing?

Have a question about living a greener life? Joy Scrogum's work focuses on food waste, waste reduction, and reuse. Ask her anything about being more sustainable. We'll post her answers next week.This is the first in a periodic series of Ask Me Anything (AMA) posts where ISTC features a researcher on our Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts and solicits questions from our followers. We post the answers on the original platform and also aggregate them into a wrap-up blog post. Our first featured researcher is Joy Scrogum.

Question (from Facebook): I like to order takeout food from the many amazing restaurants in my neighborhood, but cringe at all the waste this generates. Some of this serveware I can compost and recycle, but some of it I cannot.  How can I help influence the takeout containers restaurants are purchasing?

Joy: I’m glad you’re thinking about this. consumers really have more power than they tend to think. First of all, let me note that during the current pandemic, we all have to make allowances for the takeout containers being used by our local restaurants. It’s fabulous that they’re open and delivering. It’s important to support them during this difficult time and recognize that exploring new packaging is, of course, not a priority for them now. One thing you can do when ordering takeout is remember to ask a restaurant to not include unnecessary disposable items with your order (e.g. plastic utensils, napkins, condiment packets, plastic straws, etc.). That will not only prevent waste, but also save them a little money and reduce the opportunity for contamination as we practice social distancing.

When we’ve gotten past this pandemic, the easiest thing you can do is voice your concerns about packaging to the manager of a restaurant, along with your reasoning (e.g. polystyrene foam, aka Styrofoam, its persistence, difficulty/inability to recycle in your area, etc.). Always start on a positive note by letting them know what you enjoy about their food and service, if you’re a long-time customer, etc., and then tell them what’s troubling you, so the conversation doesn’t seem like an attack.

It’s also important to bear in mind that businesses, especially small ones, are making decisions based on costs. So when you speak or write to someone with your concerns, acknowledge that price is an issue for them and be prepared to provide some tools that might help them choose “greener” options available at similar or better prices than what  they’re currently using. The Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) has developed the Foodware Cost Calculator, which allows restaurants or other foodservice operations to compare the costs of their currently used disposable products to reusable options (e.g. plastic utensils vs. real silverware) or alternative disposable items (e.g. recyclable, compostable, made with recycled content, etc.). PSI also has a guidance document that can help businesses reduce their plastic footprint, and understand the benefits, called 3 Steps to Reduce Plastic & Benefit Your Business. You might also point out examples of preferable packaging used by other businesses in your area or elsewhere to help make the case for what is possible. A few examples that come to mind include Just Salad, which uses reusable to-go packaging, and Farmer’s Fridge, which operates fresh-food vending machines using recyclable and reusable containers. 

You can always use existing consumers ratings mechanisms, such as Yelp, Google, or Facebook, to express support for businesses using greener packaging or dismay at a restaurant with great food but problematic to-go packaging. An interesting new app from developers in Colorado is called PlasticScore. It allows you to provide feedback to restaurants on single-use plastic, as well as see waste-related ratings of nearby restaurants so you can support businesses practices that align with your values. It’s pretty new (just launched in March 2020), so you might not find a lot of information applicable to your area right now, but you could certainly contribute your own feedback to help expand their database.

Another thing to keep in mind related to compostable packaging is that sort of packaging only degrades properly in commercial composting operations (e.g. services that pick up compostables from a business or via residential drop-off or curbside composting programs). Backyard compost piles don’t attain the proper temperatures or other conditions to effectively break down those items. So before asking a restaurant to switch to compostable items, check to see if commercial composting is available in your area. It’s unfortunately true that such service is not available in many areas of Illinois.

I’m a proud member of the Illinois Food Scrap Coalition (IFSC), which is working to expand food scrap composting in our state. Check the IFSC’s online list of haulers and compost processors to see if commercial food scrap composting exists in your area. If so, you can let your favorite restaurants know, and also point out that if they decide to start composting their food scraps and compostable packaging, they could receive recognition through IFSC’s We Compost program.

Finally, you can influence restaurants and other diners through your own example. When we’re all able to dine-in at our favorite restaurants again, consider taking your own reusable food storage container or foil from home for packing any leftovers, instead of asking the restaurant for a box. When people see you doing this, it can spark conversation about packaging and may inspire someone else to do the same. Many coffee shops offer discounts for folks who bring in their own reusable mug. Be sure to ask if your favorite shop does this, so they know there is interest, and remember to take advantage of such incentives where they exist.

Note: ISTC does not endorse, either explicitly or implicitly, any particular manufacturer, vendor, product or service. Information about specific products, manufacturers or vendors is provided for reference only.

Another Way to Recycle EPS: Dart Container Offers Foam Recycling Drop-off

Expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam, designated by the #6 resin code and commonly referred to by a brand name “Styrofoam” (much the same way facial tissues and bandages have become synonymous with one brand), is one of those materials that gives consumers who like to recycle fits. Many recycling programs don’t accept it. That’s not because it can’t be recycled; it’s that collecting and transporting the lightweight foam for recycling typically doesn’t make economic sense. You’re talking about shipping something that contains a lot of air when you need to consider fuel and other transportation related costs. It’s only when EPS foam is “densified”–processed to remove the air and reduce the foam’s volume, typically through crushing and compacting–that it becomes a commodity that is economically viable to transport.

 

Those of us who work or study on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus are fortunate to be able to recycle EPS packaging materials thanks to the campus Styrecycle program. Our campus partnered with the local recycler, Community Resource Incorporated (CRI), to purchase a densifier to transform all the foam coolers from labs and packing peanuts and cushioning from shipments received by departments into dense blocks to be sent off for use in new products.  ISTC is one of the collection points for this program

 

Hooray for having some of the EPS in our community diverted from the landfill! But, what about foam from non-university, residential sources? What about foam cups and other food packaging, which are not accepted even as part of Styrecycle on campus, but widely used by restaurants and retailers throughout the area?

 

Thankfully, Dart Container Corporation, which has a plant in Urbana, operates foam recycling programs throughout the US, and has recently added the Urbana location to its list of drop-off centers. Read the full announcement about the Urbana drop-off (along with new drop-offs in OK and ID) at https://www.dartcontainer.com/media/4099/final_new-drop-off-release_tradepubs.pdf. The Urbana drop-off, at 1505 East Main Street, is publicly accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and accepts “a wide variety of recyclable foam including foam cups, foam egg cartons, foam meat trays, foam ice chests, and foam packaging which is frequently used to protect fragile materials like TVs during shipping.” The foam can be recycled into products like “picture frames, baseboards, and crown molding.” Interested residents should collect their foam in clear or translucent bags, rinse or wipe foodservice containers to remove food or drink residue, and be sure to remove contaminants like straws, tape, or other non-foam materials.

 

Note that Dart does NOT accept foam packaging peanuts.  The campus Styrecycle program does accept them from campus sources, but cautions that individuals be sure to distinguish those from cornstarch-based peanuts, which dissolve in water and are NOT accepted through Styrecycle. Residents of the Champaign-Urbana area that wish to recycle those can take them to the UPS stores in town or Mail & Parcel Plus (see Urbana’s “Where Do I Recycle It?” guide for addresses). Of course, you can always save some of them for reuse in packages you plan to send as well.

 

There are Dart foam recycling drop-offs in Chicago and suburbs as well, for UI staff and students based at UIC or those who return to the Chicago area during intersessions. Type in a location at https://www.dartcontainer.com/environment/ps-foam-recycling/ to find the nearest option.

 

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