Polystyrene (plastic #6) is the most difficult common plastic to recycle. Current estimates by the California Department of Conservation peg the costs of recycling polystyrene at over $3000 per ton, meaning that polystyrene actually has a negative scrap value. Glass, by comparison, costs just $89 per ton to recycle. All attempts to recycling polystyrene on a large-scale basis in the past have failed, despite industry support, due to the high costs involved. Overall, less than 1% of polystyrene is recycled in California, according to a report commissioned by the State of California.

Hurdles to foamed polystyrene recycling include its light weight, which makes it expensive and difficult to transport and the demand that the polystyrene be uncontaminated by food, dirt or other grime.

CAW believes that the curbside collection and recycling of polystyrene amounts to a taxpayer subsidy of a problem material. Municipalities that accept polystyrene in their curbside bins are often forced to landfill it due to a lack of polystyrene buyers. In other municipalities, polystyrene is stockpiled for up to a year before enough can be gathered for one truckload, then it is often driven hundreds of miles to be turned into a product which itself cannot be recycled and will inevitable end up in a landfill. Furthermore, no municipality in the state accepts polystyrene takeout food containers for recycling, as polystyrene recycling is highly sensitive to food contamination. Offering costly recycling of unnecessary polystyrene transport packaging does nothing to address California's growing epidemic of plastic marine debris, of which foamed polystyrene takeout containers—which are not recycled—is the primary contributor.

Learm More About Plastic Marine Debris:

• Marine Debris
• California Ocean Protection Council Resolves to Reduce Consumption of Single-Use Plastics
• Fast Food Waste
• CAW Plastic Waste Reduction Campaign