Recycle Your Styrofoam in Union County New Jersey

“Where Facilities Exist” is a term that I loath. Sometimes it is difficult to find out if they do even exist. It takes some investigative work to find the proper facility to make sure your items actually get recycled.

I’m so glad some of my investigative work to find the correct home for my recyclables has led me to Foam Pack, Inc., in Springfield, Union County, NJ. Located at 72 Fadem Road, they happily accept your #6 recycling, also known as Styrofoam™. Generally your town recycling won’t recycle Styrofoam, unless you specifically know that they do. Many facilities just aren’t equipped to condense and resell the Styrofoam. Thankfully Foam Pack, Inc. has these capabilities and also laser cuts foam which is used for packaging fragile items.

Though there are some restrictions to their collection of #6 Styrofoam, they only accept clean and white. Unfortunately they don’t accept egg cartons, dark colored foam, dirty or unwashed foam with several other restrictions found on this sign. I try to not consume any Styrofoam in my daily life but sometimes it does happen; from a well meaning free lunch from a friend, to forgetting a zero waste container. So sometimes my home ends up with a bit of Styrofoam, so collecting a small pile of it until it is worth the drive to Foam Pack, Inc. Driving each piece every time I receive it would be a waste of fuel & resources if I wasn’t already headed in that direction.

After receiving a secondhand television in its original box and packaging I then had three shopping bags full of Styrofoam that warranted a trip to Foam Pack, Inc. I made a previous trip a few years ago, however back then they didn’t have this super convenient Styrofoam only dumpster.

I pulled up to the dumpster on the side of the building, read the sign on the dumpster and proceeded to remove the egg carton I had and took it home as it was not accepted. As I looked in the dumpster, nothing was in bags, so I removed all my Styrofoam from my bags and tossed it in with everything else. I was glad to see many other people utilizing this service, as I could tell from how full the dumpster was.

If you truly care for the environment, taking a bit of time to make sure your recyclable items make it to the proper facility is just a small sacrifice of time for this world.

Does your town recycle styrofoam?