New recycling path for foam plastics: from waste polystyrene to dense recycling blocks

Densifier compression equipment introduced in many places in the United States

Recently, many counties and cities in the United States have introduced polystyrene densifiers through funding from Foam Recycling Coalition, state environmental protection projects, etc., to turn waste foam plastics (EPS/PS) into treasure:

Kent County, Michigan: Foam compression equipment is installed at the NorthKent Transfer Station, where residents can put in clean white foam cups, packaging boxes, etc., which are compressed and packaged and sent to the reprocessing plant

Avon Township, Colorado: Became the first area in the state to establish a municipal PS recycling program, using densifiers to process televisions, electrical appliances, and packaging foams to activate closed-loop recycling.

Cook County, HighPoint (NC), Mount Prospect (IL), Mecklenburg County (NC) and other areas in Illinois each received a $50,000 grant and were equipped with densifiers for foam collection, packaging and processing

How does a polystyrene densifier work?

Foam compression equipment represented by GREENMAX has a processing process that generally includes:

Collection: receiving cleaned white foam plastics;
Crushing and heating: mechanically shredding and melting at high temperature;

Compression and extrusion: removing bubbles and compressing the foam into dense bricks, with a volume compression rate of more than 90%、

GREENMAX polystyrene densifier can process plastic pallets and foam containers, with a compression ratio of up to 90:1

Achievements and impacts

The stacking volume is reduced sharply: the compression ratio is high, saving storage and transportation space;
The recycling rate is improved: for example, Kent County has solved the problem of unacceptable foam volume due to excessive volume

Policy promotion: municipalities and environmental protection agencies in many places have promoted the circular economy through subsidies to configure equipment

Challenges and prospects

Quality control: only "clean and white foam" is accepted, and dirt or printed colors need to be removed
Insufficient public education: residents often mix and throw foam that does not meet specifications, and classification publicity needs to be strengthened;
Unbalanced market demand: compressed bricks need a stable downstream market, and some regions still rely on subsidies;
Equipment cost and operating pressure: The cost of a single device is high ($30,000–50,000), and reasonable planning of delivery points and logistics collection is required