Most foam #6 products can be identified by the resin identification code stamped on the material. Foam is often mistakenly referred to as Styrofoam®, which is a registered trademark of the Dow Chemical Company for extruded polystyrene foam made for thermal insulation and craft applications. Foam #6 is a thermoplastic that can be recycled over and over again. The types of accepted foam products vary between processing facilities.
Bale Specs & Best Practices
As communities work to maximize landfill diversion and move towards zero waste, they are often faced with the question of how to manage their polystyrene. This paper was written to answer that question and to offer a list of best practices.
FPI Recovery Toolkit
The Foodservice Packaging Institute is the trade association for the North American foodservice packaging industry. This toolkit is a comprehensive resource on what foodservice packagingis currently being recovered, collected, processed and marketed.
Home for Foam
This website provides a wide variety of resources for city governments, homes, businesses and schools to recycle foam #6.
EPS Industry Alliance
EPSIA is a trade association representing expanded polystyrene (EPS) manufacturers. This site offersa wealth of resources for EPS recycling.
Video: Recycling PS & EPS
Todd Sutton, the Waste Sleuth, investigates the recycling of the #6 plastics in this video.
PS Recycling in Action
This video shows how Plastic Recycling, Inc. processes mixed bales of solid and foam polystyrene from curbside residential recycling programs.
