Have you ever wondered about what happens to your garbage once you take it out to your dumpster and it’s collected by a waste management service team? Maybe you know that your garbage is taken out to a local landfill and dumped there, left to decompose naturally. But, what do you think happens when non-degradable materials accumulate in landfills? The truth is that they take up space—and if there’s one thing that the United Kingdom doesn’t have enough of, that’s precious space. It’s estimated that more than 30 million cubic meters of Polystyrene waste are deposited in UK landfills every year, and if nothing is done about it that number will only increase, leading to a severe waste management problem that will automatically become your problem as well. Read on to find out more about why Polystyrene recycling is preferable to dumping EPS waste in the local landfill. Find out how you can use a company like PolyMelt to start recycling Polystyrene today and do your part to help the environment and to help yourself as well.
Polystyrene is a transparent, stiff thermoplastic. Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) which is the material most people are more familiar with, looks like a stiff white foam, and is used for a number of purposes, including insulation and packaging. You might recognize it in the form of disposable trays, cups, plates, glasses, packaging materials (Polystyrene peanuts). The problem is that, while people are becoming increasingly dependent on using EPS products few are concerned about the effects of dumping EPS waste in UK landfills, and fewer still fully grasp the consequences of the slippery slope of EPS waste we’re sliding down.
Polystyrene is a relatively new material, so we cannot evaluate its long-term effects. At the moment it isn’t known for certain if EPS waste does break down naturally and decompose, but if it does, scientists say that the decomposition process can last for hundreds of years. So, what happens to EPS waste in the meantime? Once it’s taken to the landfill, it either remains there, buried under decomposing rubbish, and eventually starting to seep toxins into the groundwater, or it is blown away by the wind or swept away by water. Polystyrene will break down into tiny pieces (peanuts) which can be all too easily transported by the wind or rain water and deposited in other areas. If animals mistake it for food, their digestive tracks can get blocked by it resulting in death from starvation or suffocation. If, on the other hand, they manage to assimilate the substance into their bodies, they carry it with them into the food chains, something which could potentially have disastrous consequences.
What’s to be done, you may ask? Most plastic recycling companies don’t do Polystyrene recycling, because Polystyrene recycling requires special techniques to prevent toxins from being released in the air or in the groundwater. If you do find a traditional company that will accept your EPS waste and that does engage in recycling Polystyrene, you might be turned off by the fees charged and decide to just dump it. But Polystyrene recycling isn’t something to be left for later, especially since UK landfills are projected to become saturated by 2020. There are some companies specializing in recycling Polystyrene, and more are being started each year. One such company is the up-and-coming PolyMelt which doesn’t charge its customers and which, as an extra incentive for recycling Polystyrene, and for businesses, even offers a pre-arranged collection service to have the waste transported to the recycling facility.
Find out why Polystyrene recycling is preferable to dumping EPS waste in the local landfill and find out how you can start recycling Polystyrene today and do your part to help save your environment, by collaborating with an innovative company like PolyMelt.