Yes, EPS (Expanded Polystyrene/Styrofoam) packaging materials are recyclable materials, like styrofoam packing peanuts. They are often used in food packaging, appliance protection, building insulation, and more. Although styrofoam is difficult to degrade in the natural environment, it can be recycled with proper techniques and equipment.
How to recycle waste styrofoam packing materials?
Compress the EPS materials
A Styrofoam compactor is a specialized equipment for compressing foam materials (e.g. EPS, EPE, etc.) to reduce their volume.
When the foam material is fed into the hopper, the blade or crushing device inside the machine crushes the foam initially. The crushed foam material will fall into the screw structure and the screw will feed this foam into the compaction chamber.
In the compaction chamber, the foam is gradually compressed. The air in the foam is expelled and the hydraulic ram in the compaction chamber pushes the foam and compresses it into a compact block material. After the cold compaction process, the volume of the foam can be reduced to 60:1. This means that the foam, which would otherwise take up a lot of space, is drastically compressed, making it easier to store and transport.
The compressed foam material is pushed out of the styrofoam compactor in block form to form a continuous strip of block foam. As required, these blocks can be cut to the desired length for subsequent processing or transportation.
Crushing & pelletizing styrofoam
The “pulverization followed by granulation” approach to foam recycling is an effective treatment method for a variety of foamed plastics such as EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) and EPE (Expanded Polyethylene).
First, waste foam materials (e.g., discarded foam packaging, insulation materials, etc.) are crushed through a pulverizer. Foam shredders usually use highly efficient blades to cut loose foam into smaller particles. This process not only helps to reduce the volume of the foam, but also prepares it for the subsequent granulation step.
The crushed foam particles are fed into a plastic granulator. The granulator heats the foam to a soft or molten state by means of a pressurized screw. This process can be accomplished by different heating methods, such as electric or electromagnetic heating. The foam material melts at high temperature into a viscous plastic state, which facilitates further processing into pellets.
When the foam material reaches a suitable molten state, the molten plastic will be extruded through the extruder opening to form thin strips of plastic. The strips are then cut into uniform pellets, which become reusable granules. These granules can be used to manufacture a variety of new plastic products, such as insulation materials, packaging materials or other products.
Related EPS recycling machine:
Melting & densifying EPS foam
Related EPS densifier machine