Polystyrene is an excellent packaging material due to its insulating and protective properties. Unfortunately, once goods are delivered and opened then polystyrene becomes a waste material that companies must pay to dispose of. Large, bulky pieces of polystyrene can take up significant space in a waste container which means it will need to be emptied more often – and therefore is more costly.

It is conservatively estimated that hundreds of thousands of tonnes of waste polystyrene is produced and sent to landfill on an annual basis. This material takes up a large volume of landfill compared to its weight.

Carl Payne, operations manager from Biffa, is always keen to develop new ways of recycling. According to Carl, “Rolls-Royce Motor Cars produce around 20-40 large polystyrene trays that are used to protect the front grill sections of the Phantom and other chrome parts. At the time the polystyrene would fill three or more waste containers every week.”

“Rolls-Royce Motor Cars probably produce around half a tonne of polystyrene per month, which is not a huge amount so it made it unfeasible for recycling companies to collect and recycle. The reason it is unfeasible is that polystyrene is roughly 95% air and only 5% recyclable material. Therefore filling a lorry with polystyrene is disproportionately expensive because of the large volume of space it takes up compared to the small amount of material that can be recycled.”

Biffa manage all aspects of waste management in partnership with Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. Carl continued “Biffa’s philosophy to managing a contract of this nature is to continually look for new routes to recycle waste. We found an excellent way for Rolls-Royce to recycle polystyrene using a Styromelt machine.”

The Styromelt essentially melts polystyrene to form a dense block of material that is reduced in volume by over 95% of the original material. So a two cubic metre load of polystyrene comes out of the machine as a small block 90cm x 25cm x 5cm. The block can be stored and sold to recycling companies who then turn it into fuels or new products such as garden decking.

Carl explains why recycling this material is beneficial, “Firstly, it reduces the cost of disposing of polystyrene and it frees up a lot of space in the waste containers. It also means we continue to help Rolls-Royce Motor Cars reduce the volume of waste going to landfill and increase recycling rates