Polystyrene Recycling

The Pennsylvania Resources Council along with partners the Appliance Warehouse have worked to develop options for recycling expanded polystryene packaging foam for recycling in Southwestern PA.

What is Polystrene Packaging Foam?

  • It’s the hard white packaging foam used to protect TVs, computers, and household appliances as well as what foam coolers are made of.  Look for the #6 recycling symbol on the products and some examples below.

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Why should one recycle their Foam?

  • Recycling keeps this material out of local landfills and turns in into such everyday products as pictures frames, clothes hangers, and decorative moldings.

How does it work?

  • The polystrene is collected from the drop offs listed below or PRC’s Hard to Recycle Collection Events.  The material collected is taken to facility that has a piece of equipment called a densifyer which compresses the foam into large condensed blocks.  These blocks are ship to recyclers who turn the blocks into plastic pellets that can be used to make new items.

 

DROP OFFS:

Drop off clean expandable polystrene with the #6 recycling symbol in the marked bin at these locations.
Only molded packing foam is accepted.  NO food service items (i.e. foam clam shells, cups or plates)
NO packing peanuts

AK Nahas
1108 Midland Beaver Roadfoam bin
Industry, PA 15052
724.643.4400

Appliance Warehouse
20 S. 6th Street (rear)
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
412.381.8800

NOVA Chemicals/Beaver Valley 
Front parking lot outside main entrance
400 Frankfort Road
Monaca, PA 15061
724.770.2458

NOVA Chemicals/Painsville, OH
786 Hardy Road
Painsville, OH 44077
440.354.7150