How to recycle polystyrene packaging

Polystyrene is used everywhere in packaging. From coffee cups and egg cartons to packing white goods for shipping, it’s one of the most effective and safest packaging materials out there. Because polystyrene is made up of approximately 98% air it makes a superb material for insulation and that’s why it’s used extensively in home insulation. It’s also why steaming hot coffee or tea doesn’t burn your fingers when it’s poured into a polystyrene cup!

polystyrene packagingAnother great feature of polystyrene is that it is so light. This means that although it gives great cushioning, polystyrene packaging doesn’t add a great deal of weight so it makes it a very flexible packaging material.

On the down side, polystyrene packaging can be awkward to recycle. Its lightness makes it susceptible to winds and left over polystyrene packaging can often be blown away from recycling skips and containers. Its bulkiness also makes it difficult and expensive to transport so recycling polystyrene packaging on a large industrial scale could potentially be prohibitive.

So, how can you go about recycling polystyrene packaging in an efficient and cost effective way?

The good news is that there are no harmful CFC gases in polystyrene so it makes a good material to recycle. At Vertapak we have two tried and tested methods of recycling polystyrene packaging:

We break the wasted material into beads and mix it with new beads before moulding it into blocks. We compact granulated polystyrene into blocks and then send it on to a recycling depot.

Polystyrene can be recycled into items such as picture frames, plants pots, garden furniture and much more which means that none of the material goes to waste.

We like to do our best for the environment at Vertapak and our commitment to recycling

polystyrene packaging ensures that we use our products in the most efficient way. To find out more about our range of polystyrene product and recycling methods then please do not hesitate to contact us.

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