Where To Get Rid Of Styrofoam

Styrofoam Recycling + Disposal

Styrofoam^TMcannot exist recycled in your abode recycling cart. Styrofoam^TMcan be disposed in your garbage tin at domicile.

You tin can recycle Styrofoam^TM at special events and some collection locations, or through paid doorstep service; however, it is non a valuable cloth for recycling. If you have just a small quantity, we encourage yous to dispose of information technology in your garbage.

Styrofoam^TM Recycling Events

We volition exist holding recycling events that have block Styrofoam^TM occasionally. Events will non be on a regular schedule, just balanced with events for other materials with greater environmental benefits. We are no longer able to offer StyroFest fashion events; please return plastic bags to drop-off locations.

Styrofoam^TM recycling events now have a user fee, and so those who apply the service pay for it. This aligns with our user fees for other expensive and hard to recycle materials, such as mattresses and Cfc appliances. Acquire virtually the challenges and limitations of Styrofoam^TM recycling below.

Other Styrofoam^TM Disposal Options

Styrofoam is not accepted in your recycling cart at dwelling. Styrofoam^TM tin can be disposed as garbage in your regular trash tin can at dwelling, or large quantities tin can exist thrown away at the Houghton Transfer Station in Kirkland for a fee.

Free Drop-off Recycling in the Seattle Expanse

Free drop-off recycling is available in Kent and Shoreline. Shoreline accepts block Styrofoam^TM, but not meat trays or takeout containers.

If y'all only accept a small quantity of material, we encourage you to throw it away rather than making a special trip to a distant location, or combine with another trip to the aforementioned area. That fashion you tin can minimize the environmental impacts of transporting the Styrofoam^TM, which could exist greater than the environmental benefit of recycling a small amount of cloth.

Paid Doorstep Drove

Ridwell provides doorstep collection of Styrofoam equally an add together-on to their recycling subscription service. Discover other private recycling services at Rex County'south What Do I Do With directory.

The Challenges of Styrofoam^TM Recycling

Styrofoam^TM is a challenging material to recycle. Information technology is non a valuable material for recycling, and then the price to collect and procedure it is often more the value of the recycled material. Information technology likewise requires fragile treatment to prevent pollution.

That's why in that location are so few recycling options available. Only i visitor in the Seattle area recycles Styrofoam^TM. Their capacity sets a limit on how much cream the region can recycle.

Styrofoam is not worth a lot to recycle

Styrofoam^_TM is more often than not fabricated of air, and so it only contains a small amount of plastic. Information technology has to be melted down to get rid of the air before it tin can be sold to manufacturers that use recycled plastic.

It takes a lot of Styrofoam^TM to make plenty plastic to sell. A cubic k of Styrofoam^TM (3 feet by 3 anxiety past 3 feet) yields less than 10 pounds of plastic. For comparison, a cubic yard of mixed plastic bottles and containers makes nigh 30-50 pounds of plastic.

For something to exist recycled, the material must exist used to make a new product. Manufacturers tin choose betwixt using new and recycled cloth to make their products. Plastic is fabricated out of oil; when oil is cheap, it costs less to make brand-new plastic than to use recycled plastic. Low oil prices mean fewer manufacturers want to buy recycled plastic cloth.

Recycling Styrofoam in your cart ruins other recycling

Styrofoam^TM can't be recycled in your cart because it breaks into tiny pieces. Those can't be cleaned out from other recycling, and so it makes other materials harder to recycle and worth less. Other cities have tried curbside Styrofoam^TM recycling merely experienced significant bug.

Recycling Styrofoam next to your cart would be expensive for everyone

It is not currently possible to provide gratis Styrofoam^TM recycling side by side to your cart. Waste Direction would demand an additional truck and commuter to collect Styrofoam^TM. We would need to increase garbage drove costs for everyone to pay for it. That would exist unfair to people who don't have a lot of Styrofoam^TM to get rid of.

The individual sector currently offers a paid curbside collection service for Styrofoam^TM. This user-paid choice, through Ridwell, is available for people who want curbside collection service.

Recycling Styrofoam side by side to your cart could cause pollution

There are other reasons that collecting Styrofoam^TM side by side to your cart is not the answer. Styrofoam^TM is lightweight and breaks apart easily. Pieces could get diddled or washed into our stormwater organisation from the drains in your street. From there, they would pollute the nearest stream or lake. The small pieces of Styrofoam^TM would not be possible to clean up. Styrofoam^TM is already a common problem on beaches and in the sea.

Styrofoam recycling events are besides challenging

Events are the merely feasible option for the Metropolis to recycle Styrofoam^TM. However, at that place are many limitations on hosting events, so we can't offer them all the fourth dimension.

It is very expensive to run Styrofoam^TM recycling events. We pay a vendor to staff the events and transport and recycle the fabric. Costs have increased significantly over the years. Information technology now costs six times what it did when we started to host these events.

There is only 1 vendor in the Seattle region that hosts recycling events for expanded polystyrene. Kirkland's busy events have exceeded their capacity to serve. We worked with them on several ways to expand capacity, but have reached a limit.

Styrofoam^TM recycling events require a large site so in that location'due south plenty space for the line. The events have outgrown all available Metropolis facilities, and there are a express number of big parking lots available to rent in Kirkland.

These events have a significant corporeality of staff time to coordinate and manage. They are the about time-consuming event we offer. Staff have a finite amount of time available, and then there is a tradeoff between organizing these events and other programs that may provide greater ecology do good.

So what should nosotros practice nigh Styrofoam?

Reducing how much Styrofoam^TM is used is currently the best selection.

If you lot buy meat on foam trays, you lot could suggest to your grocery store that they switch to compostable trays. Encourage your favorite restaurants to choose other styles of takeout containers. When y'all shop, consider choosing products that will non come up packed in Styrofoam^TM, or purchasing items locally instead of having them shipped to you. Buying vintage and secondhand items reduces both packaging and overall environmental impact.

In 2021, Washington State passed a new law (S.B. 5022) to reduce plastic waste and strengthen markets for recycled plastic. The policy bans the utilise of Styrofoam^TM packaging in mid-2023, and Styrofoam^TM food serviceware similar takeout containers and foam cups in mid-2024.

Extended producer responsibility is a organisation that makes companies responsible for the waste that they make, including aircraft and packaging. A organization similar that could reduce how much Styrofoam^TM people receive. It could likewise lead to more than, better Styrofoam^TM recycling options.

What's best for the environment?

Using less foam is the best choice. Unfortunately, the mode products are packaged is usually out of the consumer's control. However, at that place are valid reasons foam is currently used in much packaging. Foam is low-cal and rigid, then information technology protects products during shipping while adding piffling weight. Lighter loads produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Keeping products from breaking ways all the energy and materials used to brand them don't go to waste product. Environmentally, it may be a worthwhile tradeoff to pack items in cream even if it gets thrown away. What happens to a material at the end of its life isn't always the all-time way to gauge the best environmental choice.

Normally, it is best to recycle materials that can be recycled. But when all aspects of foam'south lifecycle and the limits of the electric current cream recycling system are taken into account, throwing away Styrofoam^TM is not currently a bad option. We do want to reduce how much waste product people in Kirkland throw away, but Styrofoam^TM is not a large proportion of well-nigh people's waste matter.

Putting Styrofoam in perspective

Our community cares a lot about the environment, and wants to recycle as much as possible. We're proud that our community is and so committed to recycling.

Our current waste material organization makes consumers responsible for disposing of packaging. But, companies decide what materials to utilise in their packaging. Because companies don't take to deal with the waste, they might not prioritize using a cloth that'due south piece of cake to recycle.

Unfortunately, the arrangement for recycling Styrofoam^TM is limited, so consumers have few options. Information technology's frustrating non to have access to recycling services yous want, peculiarly when you take little control over what packaging you get. We encourage you to reduce your waste and recycle when possible, but continue in listen that our cradle-to-grave arrangement for materials and waste material determines what recycling services you can access. Looking at the big pic, Styrofoam^TM is less important than other waste material you can control.

Styrofoam^TM feels like it should be a big problem in our landfill considering it'due south bulky, only it merely makes upward 0.5% of the landfill by weight. In comparison, food makes up 22% of residential garbage by weight. When food is thrown away in the landfill, it releases methane gas. Composting more of our nutrient waste product volition take a bigger environmental do good. Wasting less of our food is even more than useful.

A lot of residents are already composting all their nutrient scraps, and want to do more to help. The next big waste goal we have for the community is to make less waste overall. That ways producing less garbage, less recycling, and less compost.

Learn nigh ways you can make less waste product at your habitation

State Styrofoam Policy

In 2021, Washington State passed a policy that will ban expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam) packaging in mid-2023 and takeout containers and coolers in mid-2024. Learn about SB 5022 (pdf).

Ways to help the Styrofoam claiming

Avert or minimize purchasing items you know will be packed in Styrofoam^TM
When you receive a package or buy an particular packed in Styrofoam^TM, reach out to the company to let them know you lot want them to use another fabric, or provide a user-friendly means of recycling information technology
Back up extended producer responsibility policies - read more than nearly extended producer responsibility in this study (pdf, 1.5mb) - extended producer responsibility has been successfully implemented in British Columbia, Canada
Choose products that contain postal service-consumer recycled plastic