Whether you’re aware of it or not, you come in contact with Styrofoam products (the technical name is EPS or Expanded Polystyrene) on an almost daily basis. Styrofoam is cheap to make, and it has great insulating and buoyancy properties which make it attractive to a number of different industries. The material is widely used today, and it’s estimated that the United Kingdom alone produces in excess of 300,000 tons of Styrofoam every year. What happens to Styrofoam after you make use of it, though? Keep reading to find out more about why you should engage in the practice of Styrofoam recycling and to find out why recycling Styrofoam is easy to do in the UK, provided you know who to turn to for help and advice.

 

While Styrofoam is used widely by numerous industries and for many purposes, it must be said that it’s generally used for very short periods of time before it’s discarded and chucked in the garbage bin, to be taken to the local landfill. The exception here is made in cases where Styrofoam is used for wall and floor insulation—in this case you can’t really throw it away. In most other cases, though, such as when you get a coffee or lunch to go, the EPS product is used for a very short period of time. You drink your coffee, and throw the cup away. The only problem here is that, as far as anyone knows at the present time, Styrofoam is not bio-degradable. This means that, should you bury a Styrofoam cup at the beach, someone might dig it up 1,000 years from now and find it in much the same condition.

 

Styrofoam is resistant to water and oxygen, which means it doesn’t break down naturally—or if it does, the process can take hundreds of years to complete, time during which the EPS material will seep toxic materials into the soil it’s sitting on. Styrofoam is incredibly bulky—because its density is very, very low—so transporting it can be quite a hassle. This is one of the reasons why many plastic recycling companies don’t accept Styrofoam—that, and the fact that it’s very hard to clean when contaminated by food and other materials. However, dumping it in local landfills isn’t a good solution either, because it just takes up space while the existing landfills are nearing their full capacity.

 

There are solutions for recycling Styrofoam though, and every person needs to do their part in recycling Styrofoam in order for the efforts to have any noticeable results. While many recycling companies do not take up recycling Styrofoam because it’s just too cumbersome, there are other companies springing up which are starting to specialise in Styrofoam recycling, like PolyMelt. PolyMelt recognises the intense need for proper Styrofoam recycling—incineration is not a good solution because it releases toxic fumes into the atmosphere—and is doing all in its power to encourage Styrofoam recycling in the UK. As an extra benefit PolyMelt is offering free collection services for EPS waste and does not charge the consumers for the Styrofoam recycling process.

 

 

Find out how easy recycling Styrofoam really is and face some of the most important reasons why you should engage in the practice of Styrofoam recycling in the United Kingdom by working with a great company like PolyMelt.