What is the best way for Styrofoam recycling?

According to EARTH 911, Styrofoam is a major environmental problem. Every day, approximately 1,369 tons of Styrofoam is buried into U.S. landfills. Landfills are quickly filling up and Styrofoam is an active contributor occupying more space than other waste. By volume, Styrofoam products fill up 25 to 30 percent of landfill space around the world. According to The Way To Go environmental group, Hong Kong landfills disposed of 135 tons of polystyrene waste every day in 2006. Due to the environmental impact, many cities and countries have implemented a banned on the commercial use of Styrofoam, including California; Seattle, Washington; Manila, Philippines; Toronto, Canada; Paris, France; Portland Oregon; and Taiwan)

There are many ways to recycle Styrofoam, and the best way is to use a Styrofoam recycling densifier.

This densifier is mainly used for Styrofoam (Expanded Polystyrene), PE foam (Expandable Polyethylene), XPS (Extruded Polystyrene), EPP (Expanded Polypropylene) etc.

These foam materials will be pulverized by the crusher first, then melted and extruded. The advantages of foam thermal densifier lie in that it has reliable and simple operation, compact structure and responsive action, easy and low cost maintenance and protection. Processed by foam densifier, the foam compression ratio can be much greater after hot melting.

However, when dealing with foam fish box or foam fruit box, the thermal densifier will no longer be suitable as these foam is always moisture.

There are several different kinds of Styrofoam densifier on the market.

The hydraulic densifier uses hydraulic pressure to compact foam#6 and eliminates its memory to extrude the foam into a dense log. It can effectively process various densities of foam at the same time without melting in the machine, so it wouldn’t produce smoke or odors. But it could be prone to leakage and higher maintenance because of hydraulic valve failure.

The screw drive densifier uses augers to push foam#6 through a chamber at a specific speed and pressure to densify the foam into a solid log or block. The material is compacted by pressure, not heat, so screw compactor systems could start processing foam#6 immediately. And it performs best when the feedstock is limited to one density of foam at a time.

The thermal densifier uses heat to melt foam#6 into a taffy-like state. There is a rotating cutter and a hot melt screw inside the machine, squeezing the air inside the foam#6 waste by crushing and screw heating. Finally melted foam#6 waste will be as hard as a solid brick. Additional labor is required to mold the foam#6 into a shape that can be stacked on a pallet. While the machine does a great job compacting foam, it is known to produce unpleasant odors and requires more electricity to operate. Meanwhile, melting compacting systems need plenty of ventilation because these systems melt and even burn the material.

The hybrid foam#6 densifier combines the advantages of the hydraulic densifier system with the screw drive densifier system. It uses augers and hydraulics to compact foam without melting. The advantages of the Hybrid foam#6 densifier are neat output, small floor area, high output density and controllability.

You can choose the one fits you.

https://www.foam-recycling.com/