The service life of polystyrene foam materials is short, about 50% of the polystyrene foam products have a service life of only 2 years, and 97% of the polystyrene foam products do not exceed 10 years, which leads to the increase of EPS foam waste year by year.
In terms of product categories, the main sources of EPS waste are disposable foam packaging materials, foam damping materials, disposable lunch boxes, disposable containers, household goods, children’s toys, pipes, insulation boards, building materials and leftover materials from factory processing. In the recycling process, waste polystyrene foam plastics can be classified according to their product sources, forms, material properties, impurity content, moisture content, purity of raw materials, etc.
According to the source of products, it can be divided into single plastic products, similar plastic products and mixed plastic products. The former two have high recycling value and can be used to produce high-quality PS particles. Single plastic products such as PS foam fish boxes, leftover materials from large enterprises; similar plastic products such as packaging materials for household appliances, shock absorption materials; mixed plastic products, such as various PS waste foam plastics recycled from recycling stations.
According to the form, it can be divided into uncompressed foam, cold-pressed foam, hot-pressed foam and hot-melt cake. The direct recycling and transportation cost of uncompressed PS foam is high, and the production efficiency is low.
According to the material properties, it can be divided into pure PS foam, PS foam containing flame retardant, PS foam containing PE, and PS foam containing EVA.
In addition, the recycled materials can be comprehensively evaluated according to the source, material properties, morphology, impurity moisture content and other information of PS waste foam plastics, and can be divided into different grades such as grade 1, grade 2 and grade 3. Graded recycling of PS waste foamed plastics can not only improve the economic benefits of recycling enterprises, but also maintain the performance indicators of recycled materials to the maximum extent, so as to make the best use of them.
Polystyrene (EPS) foam can be recycled as a type of plastic with resin as the raw material. Turning waste into treasure is the most ideal solution to deal with EPS foam waste.
How to recycle EPS foam waste?
Step 1: Classified Collection
Foam wastes (such as foam scraps) discarded in the process of foam production and processing are of single type, pollution-free, without any impurities, and can be collected and treated separately; As a recycler, EPS foam waste is easily mixed with other waste. We suggest popularizing EPS foam sorting and recycling system for residents, or setting up a special EPS foam recycling center to centralize the collection of these foam waste.
Step 2: Crushing and compression by EPS foam compactor/densifier
In order to realize the efficient recycling of EPS foam waste, it is necessary to select the appropriate foam recycling equipment according to the material properties.
Siedon EPS foam cold compactor/densifier is a kind of mechanical environmental protection equipment which extrudes waste foam plastics according to the principle of pressure generated by screw rotation and compresses them by cold pressing. When in use, the operator only needs to put the foam blocks into the hopper, and the foam waste is crushed into small blocks by the fractionating machine in the machine, and then falls into the compression bin and is extruded into compact foam blocks by the screw.
Step 3: Recycle
After classified collection and compression, EPS foam needs to be converted into PS particles through granulation process, which will become various transparent and opaque particles, and then classified according to their properties, and finally become recyclable materials that can be reused for making photo frames, picture frames, skirting lines and other products, so as to improve the recycling value of EPS foam.
The significance of EPS foam recycling is not only to protect the environment and avoid waste of resources, but also to truly realize the recycling of waste and resources.