When Kristina Jakupovic went through recycling bins in a Mount Prospect neighborhood last year, the public works administrative superintendent found one of the most common contaminants inside the carts was polystyrene foam — better known by the popular brand Styrofoam.
In response, the village began offering a foam food ware recycling program this summer, available to all Solid Waste Agency of Cook County Communities. Meanwhile, some policymakers are taking a different route to address the often misplaced plastic: legislative movements to ban the polystyrene foam are mounting statewide and even nationally as environmental advocates point to public health and wildlife concerns.
Jakupovic was searching through the bins as part of a cart tagging program. Designed to help residents cut down on curbside recycling mistakes by leaving them direct feedback, the program also gave Jakupovic some insight into a need in her community. With $50,000 in grant funding from the Foodservice Packaging Institute’s Foam Recycling Coalition, the village purchased and installed a foam densifier. The machine takes foam products — which are over 90% air — and produces resalable, expanded polystyrene blocks called EPS ingots.