The excellent properties of EPS, providing economic and high performance products, are further enhanced by its environmentally friendly characteristics. By most methods of measurement, EPS has a positive contribution to the environment at every stage of its life cycle.
From raw material production, to processing into useable products, to the daily use of those products, to disposal or recycling EPS uses less energy, saves more energy, or has fewer emissions and creates less environmental impact on disposal than most competitive materials.
Objective, scientific studies have demonstrated the benefits to the environment of using EPS in preference to other materials.
The manufacture of disposable drinking cups demonstrates dramatically the resource and energy efficiency of EPS. Compared with EPS cups of the same size, paper cups consume:
• 170 times as much process water
• 30 per cent more cooling water
• 15 times more chemicals
• 13 times more electricity
• 6 times as much steam
Because of its light weight, on a equal volume basis EPS is only one sixth of the weight of cardboard.
Compared to EPS, other packaging materials such as wood, corrugated cardboard and paper weigh on average six and a half times as much, require twice as much energy to produce and result in two thirds more waste by volume.
MINIMISES WASTE ON DISPOSAL
EPS accounts for less than a tenth of one percent of the weight of municipal waste. The foam scrap improves the aeration of landfills and thus contributes to a faster degradation of the organic substances.
EPS products do not degrade into harmful substances, are not water soluble and do not give off any water soluble substances which could lead to contamination of ground water.
RECYCLABLE
EPS can be readily recycled in several ways. Within the processing plant, internal waste can be ground and mixed in various proportions with virgin material in the production of EPS blocks and mouldings.
Recycled material is used for the manufacture of drainage board. Recycled EPS can also be mixed with plaster to provide insulated coatings, and concrete to produce light weight blocks.
When melted, EPS becomes solid polystyrene and shrinks to its original volume. Once solidified it is reground into solid granules and used in the production of simple polystyrene products such as pens, coathangers and cassette tape.
DIMER provides EPS recycling services, please contact us for more information.
The 4 Rs Recycling
1. Reduce: Waste reduction means that less garbage or recyclables are produced in the first place. It means reducing the volume and toxicity of wastes each of us makes in the course of daily life. And, it means that by using less first, we help to conserve valuable resources like water and energy.
2. Reuse: Reduce has been mentioned as the first and most obvious choice to a greener and cleaner environment. Recycling is probably the most known and most popular, but it isn't always the best choice. Reuse should be the second choice whenever possible. Whenever feasible, it is wise to purchase products that have long shelf lives. That they are truly durable before we choose to discard them or cycle them out so someone else may continue to gain benefit of their function prior to it being recycled or disposed. An example of reuse that goes on daily is the University's Property Control Surplus Property program, which allows the campus community to Reuse desks, chairs, shelving, and other furniture equipment at no cost.
3. Recycle:What is recycling? It is a process whereby a material (i.e. soda bottle, etc.) has outlived it's useful life and has been collected, separated, re-manufactured, and purchased as a new product only to continue the cycle again. Recycling conserves resources by keeping them in circulation, reducing the depletion of non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels and mineral ores used to manufacture products from virgin materials.
4. Rethink: This category, while being listed as "4th" is probably the most important of the strategies inherent in the 4Rs circle. Over the past ten years or so, with landfill closures and moratoriums in place on building new waste incinerators, there is the need for minimizing waste generation and creating less pollution. At Stony Brook University, we are making positive strides to minimize waste generation, reuse items such as office furniture and supplies, and to continue the growth of recycling and buying products with recycled content. The University is also making efforts to strengthen and refine its ability to generate electricity on campus. We are also taking steps whereby we will eventually transition our fleet from using conventional fuels such as diesel and gas to that of compressed natural gas (CNG).
he manufacture of disposable drinking cups demonstrates dramatically the resource and energy efficiency of EPS. Compared with EPS cups of the same size, paper cups consume: 
