

Polystyrene Recycling
Expanded Polystyrene: A big problem made small
Polystyrene is a form of plastic filled with mostly air. It is mainly used to protect fragile items as packaging but also plays a role in insulation for housing. At the end of its lifecycle, Polystyrene creates a real problem for many businesses because they often don’t know what to do with it.
Why? Because Polystyrene is made from 98% air and only 2% styrene. So, the material takes up a lot of space in storage due to its bulky nature and offers little value as a resource. Consequently, this makes the material uneconomical to recycle as there’s nothing but mostly air to work with. Unsurprisingly, much of polystyrene ends up in landfill, where it takes over 1000 years to biodegrade.
Made of EPS 100% recyclable
Like many plastics, expanded polystyrene (EPS) is 100% recyclable providing it’s given the right disposal treatment. In fact, around 100 tonnes of EPS are recycled every month in the UK, but much more can be done to divert this recyclable resource away from landfill.
Did you know…
That a 40ft lorry full of polystyrene can be reduced down to a single pallet?
Our Service. Your Solution.
Our polystyrene recycling service was created back in 2010 when some of our customers asked if we could help dispose of their packaging waste (made up, in part, of polystyrene), we saw an opportunity to tackle this challenge head on.
So we:
- Invested in our own internal polystyrene compactor to compress customers’ waste material.
- Found a manufacturer who could turn the polystyrene into new products, ready to be used again.
As a standard, we now offer polystyrene recycling services for businesses, big or small – and this is all part of our Zero Waste to Landfill solution.
Loop Closed. Resource Recycled.
How we add value to your business…

BOOSTED
RECYCLING
We help maximise your recycling performance.

REUSING
RESOURCES
We divert a complex product from landfill.

ENHANCING
BUSINESS VALUES
We help you do more for the environment.
Printwaste’s Quick and Easy Recycling Service
Join the 1000’s of businesses who rely on Printwaste to look after their business recycling and confidential shredding needs.