Melt styrofoam packing peanuts down to almost nothing

by Jen (March 7, 2008)

Styrofoam packing peanuts are horrible non-biodegradable petroleum based things that get reused for a while, then end up dumped in a landfill. A few companies are now trying to recycle styrofoam products, but if that’s not an option where you live, there’s still something you can do: melt them down to a tiny fraction of the size in acetone nail polish remover.

If you can’t or don’t want to watch the video on that page, he has a beaker about one-quarter full of regular, acetone-based nail polish remover and he dumps handfuls of peanuts into it at a time. He shakes it so the surfaces get exposed to the acetone, which breaks down the polystyrene and removes what makes up most of styrofoam - air. He reduces a huge box of the things down to one blob the size of the beaker.

How does this help the enrivonment? Well, it’s certainly not as good as using environmentally friendly packaging. I’m fond of old newspaper - I’ve used the same pieces of it over and over in several long-distance moves with very good results. We need to try to convince shippers to find eco-friendly alternatives that suit them.

But reducing the size the styrofoam takes up at the landfill is better than throwing them away as-is. Also, you might find a use for that blob of polystyrene.

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