These 3 Companies are Using Revolutionary Techniques to Recycling Styrofoam

Styrofoam’s a non-recyclable product and has always been a troublesome material for the recycling industry as there’s simply nothing to do with it – until now. Thanks to the efforts of the companies Pyrowave, Polystyvert, and GreenMantra, non-traditional chemical-based technologies are making it possible to recycle Styrofoam for the first time.

Styrofoam’s a version of polystyrene and is used in takeout containers, in electronics packaging, coolers, and a wide variety of different products. Styrofoam’s got a bad reputation in waste management, with less than 4 percent of polystyrene containers and packaging like this recycled on average. Even once they hit a landfill, they take decades and possibly centuries to break down. New York City even banned the use of Styrofoam in takeout containers in 2013.

There are three companies looking to change the way Styrofoam is handled in waste management. In Montreal, Pyrowave and Polystyvert are putting in respective work to reform Styrofoam. Then, in Brantford Ontario, GreenMantra is doing something very similar with technology.

Styrofoam is manufactured from expanded polystyrene foam, otherwise known as EPS. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce estimates more than 6,500 of Styrofoam waste has landed either in our landfills or waterways. So few communities accept Styrofoam for recycling – only 35 percent of Canadian communities total accept it.

The main issue with recycling Styrofoam is it’s not cost-effective. It’s oftentimes contaminated with organic materials which puts it at a higher likelihood to have to be sent to a landfill. Post-processing, Styrofoam is also not expandable or foam-like but is rather boiled down into a hard plastic which means it can only be recycled once. Styrofoam is bulky and light, breaks apart easy, can easily contaminate other recyclables, and there are not many buyers willing to purchase it once it is collection and processed. Cities like Toronto actually need to pay companies to take it – that’s how bad the market for Styrofoam is.

Pyrowave is one company looking to change the way we do things by using a chemical process to generate brand new Styrofoam from waste polystyrene. Using microwaves to heat up and break down the molecules from chains into individual links, they can then be reformed into new polystyrene.

Polystyvert is a company taking a different approach, dissolving the polystyrene into the essential oil cymene. By doing this on-site, a truck should be able to dissolve their own styrofoam and transport up to 10 times more in the same space thereby improving cost effectiveness. In processing, it can be turned back into new Styrofoam. Polystyvert’s process, along with Pyrowave’s, makes Styrofoam endlessly recyclable.

Lastly, GreenMantra is using technology to turn discarded Styrofoam into products like additives in inks and coatings, and using them in place of fossil fuels across a wide range of products. GreenMantra’s yet another company who is improving the cost-efficiency of Styrofoam, with a capacity to process thousands of tons of polystyrene on an annual basis.

Every year, Toronto gets closer to achieving a system waste is minimized to such a degree that every material is either reduced, reused, or recycled. As a waste management and recycling company in the GTA, Core Mini Bins is happy to see recycling systems continue to improve. Styrofoam’s environmental footprint is sizeable. The opportunity to improve Styrofoam’s recyclability is sizeable. To minimize your waste output and improve your recycling rates, contact Core Mini Bins today.

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