Styrofoam Recycling?
As Bentley mentioned in his last post, we are both quite frustrated in the lack of recycling methods available for styrofoam. Every time I buy something new I am shocked by how much styrofoam was used in packaging. I understand that styrofoam is a great product and helps ensure packaged goods arrive to their destination safely without damage. However, I think manufacturers depend too highly on this material. If we can’t find adequate ways to recycle styrofoam then we should look to create and use alternative protective packaging. Surely, with today’s technology, we can create more eco-friendly methods of packaging and shipping.
Bentley, I did a little searching on the Internet and most of the information I found states that styrofoam is not cost-effective to recycle for most waste-management facilities. However, I found a great article from Sony. The article states that oranges can be used to recycle styrofoam. If you rub an orange peel over styrofoam it will indent slightly. The reason for the indent is the chemical, limonene, which constitutes 0.5% of citrus peel. If you were to extract the limonene and spray directly on a piece of styrofoam, it would dissolve the styrofoam before your eyes.
The article describes the process involved with recycling styrofoam and demonstrates the technology used to turn bulky styrofoam pieces into styrene pellets that are used in the styrofoam manufacturing process.
This article seems like it is a few years old and if the information is correct, why are waste-management companies not taking advantage of the limonene solution?
The article can be found here, Sony.
Technorati Tags: recycling, styrofoam recycling, sony, limonene
Written by steve on October 2nd, 2006 with 4 comments.
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