Styrofoam recycling at the Recycle and Reuse Drop-off Center

By Michael Taylor

Styrofoam doesn’t go in your blue recycling cart,  and it does not belong in your trash cart or dumpster.  Since it isn’t biodegradable, Styrofoam winds up in landfills and can take hundreds of years to break down.  So where does it go?

You can make an appointment to drop it off at the Recycle and Reuse Drop-off Center. The center is located just south of downtown Austin on Business Center Drive.

At the Recycle and Reuse Drop-off Center, a specialized machine shreds and melts Styrofoam into a liquid. The liquid is molded into dense blocks. These blocks are sold to a third-party vendor and then converted into products, like picture frames and crown molding. Recycling Styrofoam in this way, instead of tossing it in the trash, helps make Austin more sustainable.

The Recycle and Reuse Drop-off Center is available by appointment only. You can schedule your appointment on the Austin Recycles app or online and see what other hard-to-recycle items can be dropped off.

Thank you for doing your part to recycle Styrofoam responsibly! By supporting Austin’s zero waste goal, you can help the community reduce the amount of trash we send to landfills.