Hey Ms. Green, 

Where can I recycle Styrofoam? I’m storing it (and other things) in my garage until the year I can find where to recycle it!
—Susan in Chicago Heights, Illinois

Ugh! Me too! Styrofoam is the brand name of a certain plastic foam. This ubiquitous packing material is used for everything from shipping goods to holding coffee to insulating the siding on houses. It’s all known scientifically as expanded polystyrene (EPS) and is one of the most harmful forms of single-use plastic.

Like most plastics, EPS contains many chemical additives. It can have flame-retardant chemicals that may leach into food, drinks, or the environment. Studies are finding that microplastics get into the air, water, and soil, and that they find their way into the human body, contributing to a host of medical conditions. Recent studies found microplastics such as polystyrene in brains, bone marrow, and organs. And brains of people who died with dementia had 10 times more plastic by weight than healthy brains.

It can only be downcycled, not recycled

According to the Ocean Conservancy’s “What the Foam!?” report, EPS can’t be recycled (turned back into EPS). “Even on the rare occasion when EPS foam is actually ‘recycled,’ it’s 'downcycled,’ or made into lower-value items,” Erica Cirino, communications manager at Plastic Pollution Coalition, told me. For example, it can be downcycled mechanically into things like building insulation. But toxic flame-retardant chemicals are added to it because like all plastics, EPS is highly flammable.

Before you give EPS to a “recycler,” ask what they’ll do with it. The majority of EPS “recyclers” create more pollution because they chemically “recycle” (also known as advanced or molecular recycling) or incinerate EPS, according to the report. Chemical “recycling” doesn’t reuse plastic. And incinerating plastics emits polluting greenhouse gases and chemicals.

Donate EPS coolers and padding to be reused

Reusing something is greener than downcycling it. Ask your local Facebook Buy Nothing group if anyone will reuse your EPS. Some shipping stores like UPS will reuse almost any shipping padding.

Where to downcycle

Here’s where to downcycle clean EPS foodware (even trays for animal meat), blocks, coolers, and peanuts without chemicals. Get a pickup from Ridwell. “We don’t currently work with companies that use chemical recycling,” Gerrine Pan, vice president of partnerships at Ridwell, told me. You can also mail, drop off, or get a pickup from Tri-Power Recycling. Or ask your local waste management agency or “recyclers” in the EPS Industry Alliance map or Earth911 what they do with EPS. If you can’t get EPS to downcyclers, ask your local Facebook Being Neighborly group to transport your EPS to them.

I couldn’t find anyone who could tell me the sustainability difference between downcycling EPS through chemical or microwave technologies. The EPS Industry Alliance didn’t return my emails. And there’s no sign of life from the Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers mentioned in Sierra’s 2016 Styrofoam recycling article.

Give organizations a friendly reminder of bans

As of today, 13 states ban EPS foodware, including Colorado, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington DC. Some also ban EPS coolers and packing peanuts. There are hundreds of cities and counties that go beyond state laws. Some even banned EPS pool and beach toys. If you see EPS in states above or cities and counties in Surfrider's map, ask local governments to give users a gentle reminder of bans.

You can also report violations in Washington of organizations distributing EPS foodware, packing peanuts, or coolers. In New York, if you see EPS foodware or packing peanuts, fill out their Polystyrene Foam Ban Complaint Form.

Starting January 1, 2025, if you see EPS foodware in California or Rhode Island, ask governments in those links for help. (California’s Senate Bill 54 bans the sale of EPS foodware, unless manufacturers can prove they can mechanically recycle 25 percent of EPS foodware in the state. That rate is unlikely to be met. SB 54 also requires that all single-use packaging and plastic foodware be recyclable or compostable by January 1, 2032. But it doesn’t ban toxic PFAS in foodware.) In Oregon, if you spot EPS foodware, packing peanuts, or coolers, contact their Department of Environmental Quality. And starting July 1, 2025, if you see EPS foodware in Delaware, contact their Department of Health and Social Services.

Support a federal law to ban single-use EPS

If you’re tired of a confusing patchwork of EPS laws across the USA, support a federal ban. You can sign Ocean Conservancy’s Farewell to Plastic Foam Act petition, and your local federal representatives will get an email.

Invite your state to ban EPS

While you wait for the federal government to wake up and smell the coffee in their toxic Styrofoam cups, invite your state representatives to ban EPS. The Ocean Conservancy just released a model state policy for banning single-use EPS products. “It prohibits food service providers, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers from selling or distributing EPS coolers, foodware, and packing peanuts,” Anja Brandon, director of plastics policy at the Ocean Conservancy told me. (It doesn’t cover EPS trays for raw animal meat.)

Ban EPS from your home or organization

Instead of waiting for other people to do what you want, you can try to do it yourself. If you need to ship with packing peanuts or insulating boxes, ask local Facebook Buy Nothing groups for gently used ones. I guarantee you’ll have eager donors! If you need to buy coolers, wine shippers, or blocks, try Ecovative’s 100 percent mushroom insulation. If you need foodware, try safer foodware that other people will wash for free or safer single-use ones.

Make an even bigger difference by inviting your organization to ban EPS, such as via policies or contracts for almost anything, especially catering and office supplies. Add this sentence into policies, requests for proposals or bid solicitations: "The sale and use of polystyrene foam (e.g., Styrofoam), including coolers, food service ware, rolls, and packing peanuts are prohibited."

Petition other organizations to ban EPS

Tell Sonic Drive-In to phase out foam containers. Or start your own petition!