BinMate
Polystyrene packaging is not commonly accepted in household recycling. Check your local service or a specialist route before putting it in a recycling container.
Foam and rigid plastic are not identical
Expanded polystyrene is the lightweight foam used around some appliances and in some food packaging. Polystyrene can also be used in rigid items. Recycle Now explains the material and advises a waste-bin route where no suitable recycling service exists.
Look at the exact packaging, not only a resin number. An ordinary plastics collection does not necessarily accept every product made from that polymer.
Large appliance packaging
Keep clean protective blocks for reuse if you expect to move the appliance or send a fragile item. If not, ask the retailer or local recycling centre whether it offers a suitable route. Check household access, quantity and cleanliness rules before travelling to a specialist site.
Confirm a household drop-off actually accepts your packaging before travelling.
Contain small pieces
Loose foam beads and broken fragments can scatter. Follow the council’s instructions for containing them in residual waste if no recycling route accepts them. Do not put them loose into a bottle bank, food caddy or garden bin.
Keep packaging reuse to suitable protective packing jobs. For building insulation, use a product specified for that application.
Are all packing peanuts polystyrene?
No. Some are made from other materials. Check supplier information before choosing a disposal route; do not assume dissolving or crumbling proves local compost acceptance.
For other parcel materials, see bubble wrap and cardboard.
