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Polystyrene Foam

4/7/2018

1 Comment

 
Originally published June 27/18 The Reminder. Flin Flon, Mb. Sponsored by North of 53 Consumers Coop.

The Recycling Centre continues to receive polystyrene items. People are often surprised that we do not take it as many items have the recycling symbol.

(I really wish packaging designers would quit making it so confusing!  The message needs to be ‘check with local recycling programs for acceptable materials.’)

Last year I did some research and here is what I found.

The technical name for number six plastic is polystyrene (PS). Meat trays and many other things are made from ‘extruded polystyrene’ or polystyrene foam.  Most of us call it Styrofoam which is actually a registered trademark of the Dow Chemical Company for extruded polystyrene used for thermal insulation and craft applications.

Polystyrene foam has many uses because it is strong, lightweight, cheap, and sanitary to use.

According to the Canadian Plastic Industry Association’s web page, polystyrene foam is very recyclable.  However, only about 35% of recycling programs in Canada accepts it.

This is because it is 90% air. It takes up a lot of space and is very light. It requires special machines to compact or ‘densify’ it enough to make shipping feasible.

The Recycling Centre gets a lot of polystyrene foam. Large pieces are often in cardboard boxes where it protected whatever came in the box. It must be removed before the cardboard is baled which takes time especially when it is very tight in the box.

Foam cups, meat trays, egg cartons, and other items often found with other recyclables we receive. They are removed and put in the garbage.

It is highly unlikely that we will ever recycle PS foam.

We are finding more fibre based packing materials which are recyclable.
​
Hopefully it will become the norm.
1 Comment
Extruded Polystyrene Board link
3/11/2022 10:34:59 pm

Advantages of Thermal insulation board
An insulation system minimizes the amount of heat that is transferred through a building's shell. Plastic extruded insulation board has closed cells with standard sides and is manufactured using a fully automated extrusion process that adheres to international specifications and standards. These boards are made from extruded polystyrene, which has closed cells with standard sides and is extruded totally automatically by international requirements and regulations. A significant amount of water absorption resistance is provided by extruded polystyrene. The predictable performance and high insulating value of the static component thermoplastic material result from the manufacturing method, which is combined with the intrinsic properties of the thermoplastic material.

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    Deb Odegaard has been with the Flin Flon Community Recycling program since it began  in 1992.  She  became the Administrator in 2013.
    Deb writes a  column 'The Recycling Bin' in The Reminder, Flin Flon's newspaper. Past columns are posted here along with recycling stats  and anything else on her mind. 

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