Foam Equipment's Blog

Have you put off buying your foam compactor?

Have you been watching the Euro?

In case you haven't noticed, Foam Equipment & Consulting Company is the North American Representative (Sales, Service, Parts and Consulting) for several German machine builders.  For these companies, we are the sole rep.  Between the different machinery lines for the foam molding industry and the foam recycling industry, (expandable polystyrene, expandable polyethylene, expandable polypropylene and extruded polystyrene), we have molding machinery, filling injectors, EPS, EPE and EPP grinding equipment, and foam compactors for the densification of foam, for recycling purposes.

What's that got to do with the Euro you ask?  Well, this equipment comes from Germany.  This is German engineering and technology at its best.  And you know what that means.  It's not the most inexpensive equipment out there.  But like anything else, you get what you pay for.

But if you have not been watching the Euro, it's a good time to take a look at it.  If you are interested in buying our German equipment, it's time to make a move.  Like all other things, it probably won't stay down forever.  At the current price, it's close to 25% cheaper to buy something today, than it was just 6 months ago.  That can be significant.  I bet your tip fees or the cost to empty your dumpster of foam has not gone down 25%, (while you continue to let that plastic go to the landfill.)

When we are able to save some money on the Styrofoam recycling equipment or molding equipment, we pass it on to our customers.

Currently the Euro is below the average of the last 500 days.

 

How much scrap foam do I have?

One of the problems many people have when considering a compactor or densifier for scrap foam plastics is how much foam do they really have?  Since packaging foam is very lightweight and can be very bulky, what appears to be a large quantity may not be so much after all.  Typical polystyrene foam packaging and insulation is usually in the density range of 1 to 2 pound per cubic foot.  What this means is if you have a 12 inch x 12 inch x 12 inch cube of solid foam, it would weigh between 1 and 2 pounds.  Since most packaging foam is not used in a solid block form but is molded into relatively thin designs to protect the product, several cubic feet of polystyrene or polyethylene packaging foam may be required to equal a pound of foam.

Here are a few guidelines for estimating the weight of uncompressed EPS or EPE foam pieces.  (This excludes stacked sheet foam and block foam)

1. A 53' trailer load will weigh 1500 - 2000 pounds
2. A 20 yard roll-off dumpster containing only EPS foam will hold 200 - 300 pounds of EPS
3. A 12 foot square mound of foam packaging piled 8 feet high will weight about 100 - 150 pounds of EPS

Are you still unsure of your weekly or monthly EPS waste volume? We are happy to give you a hand.  Give us a call at 314-427-4395 or email at info@foamequipment.com.

FYI:  Styrofoam is a registered trademark for the Dow Chemical brand of extruded polystyrene foam (XPS). It is usually blue in color and made in the form of a sheet.   Expandable polystyrene (EPS) is a bead type foam which can be molded into shapes, blocks, and sheets.  It is typically white in color but can be died to any color.  EPS is frequently but erroneously referred to a Styrofoam.

Styrofoam Recycling

There is a misconception that Styrofoam ^TM (Expandable PolyStyrene or EPS) is not recyclable and that is wrong.  EPS recycling is growing stronger every day.  Styrofoam ^TM or EPS is the number "6" recycling plastic and it must be reduced or compacted to make it feasible to ship to a plastics recycler.  It has become a coveted raw material for recyclers and they are discovering a wide range of markets for it.  

A full trailer load of loosely stacked EPS foam will only weigh approximately 2000 pounds.  After the foam is run through a compactor or densifier 40,000 pounds or more can go on that same trailer and now it is cost effective for shipping.  A screw compactor can take a 1 pound per cubic foot piece of Styrofoam and reduce the volume to as much as 20 pounds per cubic foot.  This compactor or densifier can also process other types of foam.

There needs to be bigger push for all types of recycling, Styrofoam included. It's plain and simple, recycling still costs more than landfilling in many locations - it's all about the cost. 

So how do we curb the landfilling?  Just like we do for alcohol, cigarettes and gambling, we create a sin tax that would increase the cost of landfilling.  This tax money is then used for recycling efforts: setting up recycling locations, paying workers and purchasing equipment, like the EPS compactor. 

Where are you sending your recycled plastic?

 Where are you sending your recycled plastic products today?  Doesn't it make more sense to keep the recycle plastics here in the United States?

 Think about it.  In order to make plastic products, you need petroleum.  The more plastic products we make from virgin (new or non-recycled) materials, the more petroleum we need.  Have you looked at the gas pump recently?  Or do you know how many plastic products are being pumped into the ocean each day in the Gulf of Mexico, in the form of a crude oil spill?  It seems to me that if all the recycled plastics we are exporting to other countries, (and then buying back in the form of cheaply made products) were to be recycled right here in our own country, the demand for crude oil would be less.

 In 2006, 331 million barrels of petroleum, (314.5 million barrels of crude to produce) were used to make plastics and plastic products in the United States plastics and resins industry.  That's 4.6% of the United States total petroleum consumption, or at $90 a barrel, about 30 billion dollars, not spent across the water.  But the same things would be produced here, keeping our jobs at home, and employing some of our own, and boosting the "Made in America" products, which in this day and age, are hard to come by.

 Take a look around.  There are companies who are end users of recycled plastics right here in our own country.  And they are not so hard to find.  Additionally, I have known some of the end user buyers to be paying as much as the exporters.  And now, not only are you becoming (or maintaining) "green", but your helping your fellow American get or keep a job, doing your part to help our economy.

Recycled polystyrene, polyethylene, & polypropylene foam prices climb

Prices for virgin polystyrene, polyethylene and polypropylene resins in North American continue to increase.  Prices have increased as much as 20% or more since the beginning of 2010.  There has also been an increase in products made with recycled PE and PP content. These factors are helping to push up the prices for recycled PP and PE foam logs to very attractive levels.  At the recent Plastic Recycling Conference in Austin, TX, we received as many requests from buyers looking for material sources as we did for recycling machinery.  It is a good time to take a new look at your EPS, PE and PP foam wastes.  The return on investment for a foam compactor may be significantly better than a year ago.  We would be happy to assist you in your analysis and put you in touch with material buyers for updated material bids.

Plastic Recycling Resin Identification Codes

In 1988 The Society of Plastics Industry (SPI) developed the Resin Identification Code (RIC) system.   The codes were developed to provide a consistent national system to help workers on sorting lines identify post-consumer bottles using the 6 basic packaging resin classes.  The RIC system was not intended to imply recyclability.  Soon after their introduction, 39 states mandated that bottles and containers be marked with the recycling plastic Codes to assist source segregation at households.  This practice introduced the general public to the existence of the Code.  States also insisted on having an "OTHER" category.  The publics misinterpretation of the Codes, particularly OTHER, has become a serious problem.  The 6 basic resin classes (recycling numbers) no longer suffice to meet the needs of recyclers, particularly with regard to new resins and multi-material construction.   In 2008, SPI asked ASTM to take ownership of the codes.  ASTM agreed and initiated work to convert from the RIC to the ASTM standard format and address various issues using the ASTM consensus's based process.  ASTM is composed of 32,000 volunteer members from over 125 countries: consumers, producers design professionals, researchers, and academia.  Anyone with interest can participate on the ASTM committees.

ASTM's main focus

• What to do about "7"
• What to do about the Chasing Arrows symbol?
• What defines "1", "2", "3", etc?
• How do we handle multi-material and multi-layer structures?
• Are new codes needed

Some information supplied from astm.org 

What is made from recycled EPS?

Over 69 million pounds of EPS were recycled in 2008.  In the past decade EPS has achieved an average recycling rate of 12%, one of the highest of the plastics family. 

What is made from this recycled EPS?

• More EPS (expandable polystyrene) in several different forms: packaging peanuts, shape molded and block molded

 

 

 

 

 

• Picture frames, door and window frames, coat hangers, park benches, flower pots, toys, rulers, stapler bodies, seedling containers, CD and DVD cases 
• Mixed with concrete to produce new building products such as prefabricated concrete blocks.
• Co-mingled plastics products such as decking, lumber and interior trim.
• Mixed with soil and compost to promote aeration.

Let us help you in your efforts to recycle EPS and Styrofoam.

What Do Recycling Symbols on Plastics Mean? (Part 2)

Number 4 Plastics

LDPE (low density polyethylene)

Found in: Squeezable bottles; plastic soft drink, water, sports drink, beer, mouthwash, catsup and salad dressing bottles; plastic peanut butter, pickle, jelly and jam jars; oven able film and oven able prepared food trays, bread, frozen food, dry cleaning and shopping bags; tote bags; clothing; furniture; carpet.  Also used in film applications due to its toughness, flexibility and relative transparency, making it popular for use in applications where heat sealing is necessary, like bread bags, dry cleaning, or frozen food bags.
Recycling: LDPE is a flexible plastic with many applications. Historically it has not been accepted through most American curbside recycling programs, but more and more communities are starting to accept it.  Plastic shopping bags can be returned to many stores for recycling.
Recycled into: Trash can liners and cans, compost bins, shipping envelopes, paneling, lumber, landscaping ties, floor tile

LDPE can also be foamed or expanded.  In this case it can look like EPS, (expandable polystyrene) or "Styrofoam" packaging.  This is why when recycling, it's important to recognize the recycling symbol to know which plastic material you have.  In the world of plastics recycling, mixing these materials can be considered contamination to a recycler.

Additional numbers coming soon.  Reprinted in part with permission, this information is ©1986-2010 by IDES.  http://www.thedailygreen.com/green-homes/latest/recycling-symbols-plastics-460321

What Do Recycling Symbols on Plastics Mean? (Part 1)

Number 6 Plastics

PS (polystyrene)

Found in: Disposable plates and cups, meat trays, egg cartons, carry-out containers, aspirin bottles, compact disc cases and in the foamed or expanded form as packaging, EPS or expanded polystyrene
Recycling: Number 6 plastics can be recycled through some curbside programs and the number of recycling centers that are accepting the foamed version, (EPS) is continuing to grow.
Recycled into: Insulation, light switch plates, vents, rulers, foam packing, carry-out containers, chair rails and crown moldings and picture frames

Polystyrene can be made into rigid products (PS-polystyrene), or foam products (EPS-expandable polystyrene)- in the latter case it is often incorrectly referred to as Styrofoam.  (See "What is Styrofoam") blog entry.  While many places still don't accept it, it is gradually gaining traction as more and more people are becoming aware that it is indeed a valuable recyclable material, and easy to do so with the right equipment.  Just look for the symbol show above on the product to determine if it is PS, EPS, or a different category of plastic all together.

This information is reprinted in part with permission and is ©1986-2010 by IDES

Plastics Recycling Conference 2010

I want to let everyone know that we are exhibiting again this year at the Plastics Recycling Conference 2010 which will be held in Austin TX.  The conference will take place on March 2nd and 3rd.  The conference will include a tradeshow.  We will have booth #304 and would love to have you stop in.  The conference sponsors expect a great turnout again this year.  There were a record number of exhibitors this year and all spaces have sold out.  This primary focus of this conference is recycling, not solid waste management.  This is one of the best conferences in North America to meet people interested in recycling plastics of all types.  

Conference Highlights:

• Plastic Recycling Markets
• Latest Processing Technology
• International Developments
• Legislation Update
• Biopolymers and Recycling
  

We would like to meet anyone interested in discussing recycling of EPS and Styrofoam plastics as well as PE, Ethafoam, EPE and EPP foams.  We are also interested in meeting anyone interested in purchasing these materials in a compressed or densified form.  

You can get more information on the conference at Plastics Recycling Conference 2010