Polystyrene Blocks - what to do with?

mike65

I hate this stuff! The bubble wrap is'nt much better. What are we, the normal
domestic householder supposed to do with this stuff. The green bin won't allow it and (locally) looking at the Council recycling centre website they don't have any specific policy on the stuff either.

Mike.

maniac101

I break it up and use it to put at the bottom of my flower pots to improve the drainage, as an alternative to stones! If you're not into flower pots many of the larger recycling centres will accept polystyrene (in the Cork area at least).

2 stroke

Do you find that your flowerpots blow away often due to lack of weight

prospect

The recycling facility at Kilcullen accepts bubble wrap. I am not sure about aeroboard though!

cavedave

I am looking into using it to insulate my roof. Sheets of polystrene around the water tank then wrapped in the usual fibreglass stuff might be the way to go*.
You can also use bubblewrap it to insulate windows.
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Conservation/bubblewrap.htm
http://eev.liu.edu/heat2002/data/unis.htm

*This is a very bad idea due to the reasons given below

10-10-20

cavedave, this stuff is highly flammable with a melting point of 240oC (Meaning it will catch very easily) and is considered to be a fire hazard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polystyrene#Dangers_and_Fire_hazard

"it is prohibited from being used in any exposed installations in building construction "

cavedave

cavedave, this stuff is highly flammable with a melting point of 240oC (Meaning it will catch very easily) and is considered to be a fire hazard.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polysty...nd_Fire_hazard

"it is prohibited from being used in any exposed installations in building construction "

Thanks for the warning. How about bubble wrap*?

*edit probably still not a good idea http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/07/bubble_wrap_curtains.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890

mike65

Having e-mailed the local evironment dept just after starting this thread I finally got a reply yesterday

Dear Mike,

The Recycling Centre does not accept polystyrene blocks, poly chips or plastic wrapping/bubble wrap. It accepts the following materials from households:

Cardboard
Glass
Aluminium Cans
Clothes
Electrical equipment
Oil
Paint (a €2.50 wheeled bin tag for every 2 tins of paint)
Aerosols (a €2.50 wheeled bin tag for every 2 aerosols)

Kind regards,

So there we have it. No can do and no hint of any widening of the types of materials that can be recylced. I've decided to put the poly board in the attic
it might save me a few cents over the winter.

Mike.

CJhaughey

My local recyc depot [cork] takes polystyrene, I am not sure why yours doesn't?
Surely it is all shipped to China anyway?

dcGT

I was told by the lads in my local recycling centre, that the electrical suppliers in the area take the expanded polystyrene (white stuff) as they apparently have a means of recycling it. They need to dispose of it anyway for the likes of fridge/washing machine packaging. DID electrical/Power City have cages at the front of the shops where you can put this stuff.

DC.

Húrin

I thought polystyrene foam was unrecyclable.

Gadgie

I think they take it in Waterford County recycling centres (eg. Tramore). My sister has just moved into a new house and has tons of the stuff from all the new appliances.

BendiBus

I can only think of reuse as an alternative option. Which might work if by any remote chance you're a Power Seller on ebay specialising in breakable items? Crumble it up and use it for padding? Not likely but you get my drift.

I do keep a certain amount of used bubblewrap for exactly those eventualities. Ditto any bubblewrap envelopes that arrive in the post get stored for reuse. In fact I reused 2 such envelopes in the last fortnight.

Reuse always beats recycing.

mike65

True, I've got a big bag (plastic naturally) full of various grades of wrapping and do occasionaly dip into it when sending stuff through post.

Mike.

maniac101

Someone's been looking for styrofoam in the Art forum:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055112516
Another possibility perhaps?

Spyral

mix it with petrol and make napalm

GG66

I used a lot of it to refill a large bean bag last year. took a while to break it up but works well. Might not be fireproof but it should be ok if you don't intend lighting farts on it.

the other option is to unpack large items on delivery to check it and give the driver back the packing. I did this with a large fridge, he wasn't too happy but didn't bother me as I paid an ECF without them having to actually take anything back off me.

Capt'n Midnight

H&#250 wrote: »

I thought polystyrene foam was unrecyclable.

if you heat up polystyrene it splits down to styrene which can be used to make polystyrene

it dissolves in petrol , not sure if you could disolve in diesel and put it in your tank, probably turn to gunk

D'Peoples Voice

mike65 wrote:

I hate this stuff! The bubble wrap is'nt much better. What are we, the normal
domestic householder supposed to do with this stuff. The green bin won't allow it and (locally) looking at the Council recycling centre website they don't have any specific policy on the stuff either.

Mike.

I bring mine to Power City(whether I bought the item there or not) - I assumed that's what everyone did:eek:

mike65

mike65 wrote:

I've decided to put the poly board in the attic
it might save me a few cents over the winter.

Mike.

Just be sure that it doesn't come into contact with any electrical cables, the PVC cladding can react with the poly and turn to liquid, if your're unlucky it could catch fire.

kerplunk.

Húrin wrote: »

I thought polystyrene foam was unrecyclable.

Polystyrene is recyclable, all recyclable plastics, bottles etc will have a recyle logo on them which looks like a triangle with a number in it or next to it, the number represents the recycle grade I think it runs from 1 to 5, anyway - electrical goods retailers have to accept old appliances and packaging as part of the recyling fund contribtion that we all pay nowadays when we purchase an applicance

ardara1

kerplunk. wrote: »

Polystyrene is recyclable, all recyclable plastics, bottles etc will have a recyle logo on them which looks like a triangle with a number in it or next to it, the number represents the recycle grade I think it runs from 1 to 5, anyway - electrical goods retailers have to accept old appliances and packaging as part of the recyling fund contribtion that we all pay nowadays when we purchase an applicance

Polystyrene recycling scheme unveiledElaine Edwards

Some 200 tonnes of the packaging material polystyrene are to diverted from landfill sites over the next year under a recycling scheme unveiled today.

Currently, there are very few options for companies or members of the public to dispose of expanded polystyrene
Michael Horgan, Rehab The scheme was announced in Navan, Co Meath, by Minister for the Environment John Gormley.

Rehab Recycle operates the new expanded polystyrene recycling service (EPS), which will handle the equivalent of 300 forty-foot containers of the packaging over the next 12 months.

EPS is most commonly used as a packaging material for electronic and electrical equipment and is known by a number of trade names such as Styrofoam and Aeroboard.

When it is reprocessed, the plastic from polystyrene can be used in products such as clothes hangers, CD cases and stationery.

A heat-reduction process will remove the air from the polystyrene leaving a recyclable plastic product.

Michael Horgan, director of enterprises with the Rehab Group, said: "Currently, there are very few options for companies or members of the public to dispose of expanded polystyrene.

"The product is not accepted in any green bin collection scheme in Ireland, and most civic amenity centres do not take it for recycling. Some people have no option but to place it in their general refuse bin."

Poochie05

kerplunk. wrote: »

- electrical goods retailers have to accept old appliances and packaging as part of the recyling fund contribtion that we all pay nowadays when we purchase an applicance

Under the WEEE regultions electrical retailers have to accept the old appliances for recycling and the contribution to the recycling fund paid goes to pay for the cost of recycling that appliance. It does not pay for the recycling of the packaging. Packging comes under the packaging regulations but companies do not have to accept the packaging if they are members of Repak. Companies who are not members of Repak such as Powercity are self-complying with the packaging regulations and so have to arrange for the recycling of the packaging themselves (see www.repak.ie for a list of their members.

AngryHippie

Its a very good insulator.
Try filling some cavities with it ?
Or keep it in case you have to return the appliance ?

OMEGA-KNO3

Spyral wrote: »

mix it with petrol and make napalm

i did just that and it made me happy cause i got rid of an enemy of mine with it the smell of burning flesh made me hungry lol

banchang

Under the Waste Management Act, retailers must take back all of this packaging (all the cardboard & polystyrene blocks).

So you don't have to worry about it

See the notice displayed on the way into any Power City.

Poochie05

banchang wrote: »

Under the Waste Management Act, retailers must take back all of this packaging (all the cardboard & polystyrene blocks).

So you don't have to worry about it

See the notice displayed on the way into any Power City.

As I said earlier, this is only the case if the retailer is NOT a member of Repak.

m_stan

Its a bit of a shocker that this stuff isn't recyclable in the green bin. It's far too tempting to dump this stuff in the black bin. I recently bought a home cinema system and there is more of this stuff than can actually fit in my black bin.

Are there any easier options for having this stuff disposed of responsibly these days?

Capt'n Midnight

you could drop it off at the local office of SONY or whoever , wrap it in christmas paper might encourage them to do something about it

siralfalot

Spyral wrote: »

mix it with petrol and make napalm

hahahahahahahaha

I tried that that about 2 weeks ago with a load of leftover packaging on the site of my new house, damn near burnt my eyebrows off!

Cookie_Monster

thread a bit old isin't it:D

bring it to you rlocal recycling centre they take it. (at least all the ones near me do)

frackingishell

Hi folks.

seeing as you all seem polystyrene recycler minded, i'd like to share this video with you. There's a new source of polystyrene pollution in the environment.

|I'm currently in contact with the SEAI, DCENR, and the European commission for the environment. Progress is slow however.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU_MnaZEDI0

Needler

My house is insulated with this stuff. Put a lot of it down myself just to get rid of the stuff.

No great addition to the existing fire hazard cause it's on top of Beauty Board, stuff that hasn't been sold in about 25 years due to it's fire hazard-like properties

djpbarry

frackingishell,

Please don't drag up old threads just to plug your own personal campaign.