Americans throw away an astonishing 25 billion Styrofoam cups each and every year. Styrofoam (more appropriately called Polystyrene or EPS) languishes in landfills indefinitely, taking at least 500 years – and possibly much longer – to decompose.
There are two reasons EPS isn't allowed in our single-stream recycling bins: density and contamination. Polystyrene foam is 95% air so it is not cost-effective to ship it in its current state. It also breaks down into tiny pieces that can contaminate the recycling stream. At our CHaRM facility our EPS Densifier is able to compress the styrofoam to 1/50 of the original size which removes all that extra air and therefore, makes it more economical to ship.
Styrofoam (listed below) can be recycled in designated locations at Publix Supermarket and at the ACC CHaRM.
Types of Styrofoam you can recycle:
No food residue or stains, no stickers, and no tape
All CLEAN with Expanded Poly-styrene (EPS) labeled #6
Block packaging & peanuts
Clamshells (food take-out container)
Fast-food/coffee cups
Egg cartons
Meat trays (remove pad)
EPS Densifier at the CHaRM
EPS Densifier
Styrofoam and plastic bags cannot be recycled in your curbside recycling containers because they cause problems at the recycling facility. However, you can drop off both styrofoam and plastic bags at special collection locations to be recycled.
styrofest-visual-guideStyroFest Monthly Recycling Event
Both styrofoam and plastic bags are accepted at this special collection event hosted by the City of Kirkland. We also accept flexible styrofoam (EPE) and white plastic strapping. Materials must be clean, dry and empty, and should be sorted by type and color. Please remove packing tape and labels. Packing peanuts are not accepted at StyroFest, and should be thrown away.
See the StyroFest guidelines and 2019 dates (PDF, 267kb) for details. The event is open to Kirkland residents only.
Plastic Bag Recycling Drop-Off Locations in Kirkland
Many grocery stores accept plastic bags for recycling. Bundle your bread bags, newspaper bags, produce bags, dry cleaning bags, and more to return to stores. See all accepted items, and find more locations beyond Kirkland, at BagYourBags.comlinks to external site.
accepted plastic bags for recycling
These locations have been confirmed to have plastic bag recycling stations (check at your preferred store even if it's not on this list):
Fred Meyer
1221 120th Ave NE
Safeway
12519 NE 85th St
QFC
211 Park Place Center
QFC
11224 NE 124th St
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