According to The Daily News, the pressure is now mounting on Australia’s supermarkets to drastically reduce the amount of environmentally toxic plastic packaging such as polystyrene on their shelves.

Plastic packaging is often considered as a blessing for supermarkets since it can be deployed to protect food, preserve freshness, and prevent spoilage and waste. For example, lots of fruit and vegetables are packed with polystyrene boxes to protect from being damaged and maintain one temp to keep them fresh before reaching residents’ kitchens. However, these polystyrene boxes are often thrown away within minutes of use, yet they can persist in the environment for 1,000 years.

Can these polystyrene boxes discarded be recycled or reused? The answer is “Yes”, but there is still far to go.

Polystyrene is considered not to be recycled

In many people's minds, polystyrene cannot be recycled, like most disposable plastic waste. If you know the fact that polystyrene is composed of 98% air, and these air can be compressed out, you may have a different opinion. When the air in the waste polystyrene is squeezed out, they will become dense objects that are as hard as rocks and can be used to make new products. Acknowledging that polystyrene waste can be recycled is the first step in the reasonable and effective recycling of polystyrene.

Polystyrene packaging waste is not accepted

Even if it is known that polystyrene waste can be recycled, it is still not accepted in some local recycling centers or roadside recycling points in Australia. Because of its bulky volume and lightweight, polystyrene waste is often refused since large storage space will be occupied and high transportation costs will generate, while it needs to be placed in designated places and undergoes special treatment before it can be recycled.

Professional Polystyrene Recycling Machine is needed

Some local councils or specialized polystyrene recycling facilities in Australia are usually equipped with specialized polystyrene recycling machines. At present, the main working principle of the recycling machine on the market is to exhaust the air in the waste polystyrene through extrusion or hot melt, greatly reducing its volume. For example, the GREENMAX Polystyrene Compactor, manufactured by INTCO Recycling, the leading provider of renewable polystyrene foam (EPS) solutions in Australia, is welcomed by local councils, such as Muswellbrook Shire Council, East Gippsland Shire Council, Albury City Council, etc.

The GREENMAX Polystyrene Compactor Apolo Series can compact polystyrene waste into dense and uniform blocks with a volume reduction ratio of 50:1, greatly reducing the volume and saving storage and transportation costs. Meanwhile, the compressed polystyrene block can be processed into various exquisite wall decoration products with INTCO Recycling’s expertise. This matches for the circular economy and sustainability sense in many countries, as well as improved polystyrene recycling efficiency while reducing costs, saving a lot of forest resources, and protecting nature surroundings.