A weekly series, in which I tackle a Q from a reader looking for green advice.
Question: do you know if we’re supposed to put styrofoam in the recycling bin (someone asked me if styrofoam is recyclable, and I’m not sure!)? thanks! xo robin
Answer: No, you should not put styrofoam in the recycling bin. [Update! As of a few months after this post was initially written, the City of LA now allows you to recycle clean styrofoam into your blue bins. The best option is still to shun using the stuff altogether though; styrofoam is v. expensive to recycle, esp. as there’s like no market for the recycled product right now.
The City of Los Angeles only recycles plastics #1 and #2, while styrofoam’s #6. So the city advises residents to quit using the stuff: “Styrofoam® takes a long time to decompose. Instead of using Styrofoam® cups, use glass or ceramic. If you receive Styrofoam® peanut packaging, reuse it, or donate it to your local box or shipping company.”
The City of Santa Monica also asks you not to put styrofoam or other nonrecycleable plastics in your blue bin: “They are not recyclable, but they are often reusable…. If you can’t find an outlet to re-use these materials, please secure them in a bag and place them in your refuse container.”
So — Styrofoam definitely should NOT go in the recycling bin, although you may be able to donate packing peanuts to UPS or Kinko’s.
Of course what the city recycles is a different matter from what is actually recycleable. It apperas that styrofoam CAN be recycled, but the general consensus is that it’s logistically near impossible to do so. Thus, it makes very little sense to lobby your city’s recycling program to accept the stuff. The better route would be to not use styrofoam to begin with.
The only people who say that styrofoam’s “an excellent material for recycling” is the Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers — and as you can imagine, this alliance is made up of companies that manufacture styrofoam. AFPR have put together a mapped list of styrofoam recyclers, but there are only 17 in all of Cali — and even these accept “expanded polystyrene transport packaging ONLY” — no food or beverage containers allowed.
Which is part of the reason why Santa Monica has now banned styrofoam and other non recycleable plastics in food service packaging.
Styrofoam, btw, is a trade name for a plastic called polystyrene, made by Dow Chemical Company. If you’re not a fan of Dow, that gives you one more reason avoid styrofoam.
As you noted, Styrofoam is a specific product, which is a registered TM of Dow Chemical. (Grin). http://www.dow.com/styrofoam/ .
Or as Dow puts it on their website:
Today, the Dow STYROFOAM brand includes a variety of building materials (including insulated sheathing and housewrap), pipe insulation and floral and craft products. But there isn’t a coffee cup, cooler or packaging material in the world made from STYROFOAM.
These common disposable items are typically white in color and are made of expanded polystyrene beads. They do not provide the insulating value, compressive strength or moisture resistance properties of STYROFOAM products. In order to protect the Dow trademarked name “STYROFOAMâ€, such other material should be referred to by the generic term “foam.â€
You’ll probably get a letter from Dow. :-)
If it has a “numbered” triangle on it, it is potentially recyclable. Many foamed products are in fact versions of plastics similar to the plastics in soda bottles that can be melted and reused. Not many waste systems take foamed products; not all numbers of potentially recyclable foams get collected by a given city. Pasadena, which has a mixed recycle bin system, takes some numbered foams.
Foamed and solid plastics are not the best choices, of course; glass recycles better and uses less energy; reusable cups eliminate the recycle issue. (Many waste systems won’t deal with food contaminated paper products, like pizza boxes, for example.) And disposable products send the wrong message. So avoiding the foamed products for other choices is probably the best choice,in fact.
Comment by Roger, Gone Green — February 4, 2007 @ 11:17 am
Pasadena’s list of materials, including foams, is at:
http://www.cityofpasadena.net/publicworks/smiwmII/recycling_made_easy.asp
Comment by Roger, Gone Green — February 4, 2007 @ 1:43 pm
I didn’t bother to do the research like Roger, but my journey to a local Culver City park suggests that that city takes plastics 1 thru 5 at its drop-off locations. Coming from LA’s 1 & 2 only, I am thrilled – I can start eating yogurt again!
Comment by erin — February 8, 2007 @ 11:32 am