Translations:AY Honors/Recycling/Answer Key/20/en
PS
Throwaway utensils, meat packing, protective packing. Currently, the majority of polystyrene products are not recycled because of a lack of consumer awareness regarding suitable recycling facilities and collection methods. Expanded polystyrene scrap can be easily added to products such as EPS insulation sheets and other EPS materials for construction applications. Commonly, manufacturers cannot obtain sufficient scrap because of the aforementioned collection issues. When it is not used to make more EPS, foam scrap can be turned into clothes hangers, park benches, flower pots, toys, rulers, stapler bodies, seedling containers, picture frames, and architectural molding from recycled PS. Recycled EPS is also used in many metal casting operations. It can be combined with cement to be used as an insulating amendment in the making of concrete foundations. American manufacturers have produced insulated concrete forms made with approximately 80% recycled EPS since 1993. However, polystyrene recycling is not a closed loop, producing more polystyrene; polystyrene cups and other packaging materials are instead usually used as fillers in other plastics, or in other items that cannot themselves be recycled and are thrown away.
