Styrofoam Recycling

 

Styrofoam is a common name for many products made from Polystyrene and other related chemicals. There is only one product that is recyclable by Foam Fabricators, Inc. and that is EPS or Expanded Polystyrene. EPS is a rigid cellular plastic which is found in a multitude of shapes and applications. To the lay person, it is "those little tiny balls all pressed together." We commonly see it in coolers and molded for packing. It is important to recycle EPS in order to keep it out of landfills and also so that the demand for virgin EPS is reduced.

Foam Fabricators, Inc. has a machine that 'chews' the EPS up, back into the little balls. They then mix those balls in with 'virgin' balls from the factory. The New Albany plant makes coolers for a fish company and packaging pieces for General Electric's Appliance Park in Louisville, Kentucky. Manufacturing of these products takes no chemicals. It simply warms the EPS pellets and blows them into a mold.

The New Albany plant has a fenced in area (see big white blobs in photo below) where anyone can drop off their EPS products 24/7 at 950 Progress Boulevard, New Albany, IN.
View Larger Map

What you can take to be recycled:

EPS Coolers

Molded Packing that is comprised of the EPS pellets







What you cannot take to be recycled:

Any polystyrene food containers like cups, plates, take out containers. Please try not to use these in the future since they cannot be recycled.

Foam 'peanuts' packing material. Take this to your local UPS store and they will reuse it. It is not EPS and cannot be recycled.

Any painted, or colored EPS. They only recycle white EPS.
These items will be thrown away if they are left at the factory.