Tag: Recycling Cases

Norway has taken a proactive step toward circular EPS management by initiating two major pilot projects—one to collect, sort, and compress EPS into industrial-use streams, and another to deploy municipal recycling machines. Together, these pilots lay the groundwork for a robust, scalable EPS value-chain in Norway. Two Pilots, Complementary Objectives Led by Miljøstiftelsen ZERO and

In Skjern, Denmark, a regional recycling facility has proven that modest investments in EPS densification yield reliable results. Supported by EPS-branchen, the facility installed local compression equipment in late 2019—creating a new hub for Danish EPS waste from households, retailers, and municipal sites. System Overview Upon arrival at Skjern’s collection station, clean EPS foam is

At Kalundborg Rocker—a Danish music festival with roughly 8,000 guests and 700 volunteers—a new approach to EPS recovery delivered measurable results: 100% of EPS barrels used at the 2019 event were returned for reuse, thanks to a simple deposit model. The system worked without added complexity: a deposit of 35 DKK + VAT was charged

At the Amager Ressourcecenter (ARC) in Copenhagen, Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) waste from residents and businesses no longer requires long-distance transport for processing. Instead, the material is compressed directly on-site — transforming a previously costly and low-density stream into a compact, market-ready resource. In 2019, ARC introduced a container-based densification unit equipped with a RUNI compactor

In May 2019, the towns of Brockton and Hanover in Ontario reinstated their polystyrene foam recycling programs after a two-year pause. The resumption was enabled by a $9,700 grant from the Foam Recycling Coalition via the Foodservice Packaging Institute (waste360.com). This timely funding allowed each municipality to equip a local recycling depot with a Runi

Silkeborg Forsyning, the municipal waste utility in Silkeborg, Denmark, began a dedicated program in 2012 to separate expanded polystyrene (EPS, commonly known as “flamingo”) from general plastic. The effort reached a crucial milestone when the utility installed a compaction facility to enable efficient recycling of clean white EPS from households and local businesses. Local separation

In October 2016, Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority (SCMUA) installed a self‑contained Foam Cycle densifier at its landfill drop-off center—becoming one of the earliest New Jersey counties to treat EPS as a resource instead of waste (waste360.com). Since then, the system has processed over 4,000 lb of clean packaging foam, significantly reducing landfill volume. The Foam Cycle unit

Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is often misunderstood in public debate — seen as unrecyclable due to its low weight and high volume. But a detailed 2015 report from Divert Nova Scotia and Clean Foundation tells a different story. At the time of publication, several Canadian provinces had already established successful EPS collection and recycling systems: While