HIGH POINT, N.C. —  Americans throw away 25 billion foam cups annually, according to environmental officials.

What You Need To Know

  • Polystyrene foam is labeled with a No. 6 inside the recycling triangle 

  • The foam is commonly used for to-go containers and cannot be recycled normally

  • There are multiple polystyrene recycling programs across the state

The foam is most commonly known for to-go containers, meat packaging, coolers, egg cartons, coolers and more. It is commonly thrown into regular recycling bins as consumers may believe it is recyclable just like cardboard or cans, although it actually contaminates the recycling. 

“It’s so important to keep this out of it, because once it gets in a truck and it goes through the whole process and thing, you know, when you break up polystyrene or Styrofoam, it breaks in a thousand little tiny white balls and they float everywhere,” said Teresa Baker, the recycling program coordinator for the city of High Point. 

Baker has always been intrigued by recycling but started taking it seriously about 15 years ago, when she noticed her daughter’s school did not have a recycling option. 

“It became really important to me to find ways and pathways for our children to not think that just because their lunch is packed with disposable items, that it's not OK to just have single-use and to be aware of everything that they were throwing away,” Baker said. 

Now she is helping spread her passion for recycling across North Carolina. The city of High Point is the 31st location in the United States to receive a grant from the Food Service Packing Institute's Foam Recycling Coalition. The $50,000 grant allowed the city to purchase a polystyrene foam recycling machine. 

“Having the grant just allows us to be able to have a clear communication about that that needs to go in another place and that the food service industry is giving us another way to recycle those single-use items,” Baker said. 

The machine heats up the plastic foam into logs that are sent off to be recycled into items such as red solo cups or compact disc cases. 

Not only is polystyrene not able to be recycled as normal due to its makeup, but it is dangerous to sit in landfills. 

“It’s a big deal to be able to have accessibility for polystyrene recycling, because it creates such pockets in our landfills that it creates methane gas, and methane gas is three times more potent than carbon dioxide,” Baker said.

If polystyrene is put into a regular recycling bin, the recycling becomes contaminated, meaning all of the material that comes into the High Point Material Recovery Facility is contaminated. 

There has been around 259 pounds of polystyrene foam collected at two drop-off locations over the past two and a half years, according to the Tiny House Community Development, an organization High Point has partnered with for this project. 

So next time you recycle, check to see if the item has a No. 6 inside the recycling triangle to indicate the item is made of polystyrene and contact your local government to find local polystyrene centers near you. 

Three polystyrene recycle drop-off locations have been added to High Point including: 

  • High Point Public Library, 901 N. Main St., High Point
  • Ingleside Compost Facility, 3001 Ingleside Drive, High Point
  • City of High Point Material Recovery Facility, 5875 Riverdale Drive, Jamestown