Extruded Polystyrene Foam, commonly called “styrofoam” is a commonly used packing material and insulator that has been around for well over a half a century. Patented in 1947, it has been used in packaging, and as a building material. Made from chemicals, this stuff is light and cheap to produce, yet is generally considered to be non-biodegrade. Curbside recycling of foam is nonexistent, at leas here in Portland (or any other place I have lived for that matter). It is, unfortunately, a non-biodegradable pollutant, and has infected our natural resources, rivers, forests, oceans. Not to mention our own cities, where ignorant individuals place them in recycling bins only to have them thrown back into the trash, or on a windy day can be just blown down our streets.
Polystyrene Foam takes from 500 to One Million Years to degrade. Think about that. We are creating products that are made to be thrown away that will never degrade in any of our lifetimes. There must be some way to get rid of this stuff. And luckily there is.
I want to call out everyones attention to a company called Agylix, based in Tigard that recycles Extruded Polystyrene Foam, and they do it for free. There is a 24 hour drop off so you can get rid of the packaging from that new TV you got, or from the lawn furniture you purchased that required assembly. And they do it for free. They make it back into other products, but at least it is still used, and not put into our ecosystems.
Here is their address:
Agilyx
13240 SW Wall Street
Tigard, OR 97223
….and a link to their recycling center:
https://www.agilyx.com/tigard/drop-off/