My school uses Styrofoam lunch trays daily. How can we recycle them?

Question

My school uses styrofoam lunch trays and I know that they are very poor decomposers and somewhat toxic. How can our school recycle trays? I don't think it would be smart to use plastic trays because we are going through a drought and we can't use extra water to clean them. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Styrofoam can not be recycled and the best thing to do is to try to get your school to change from using styrofoam to something like hardplastic that can be reused. More friendly for the enviornment. Styrofoam is the WORST for the enviornment.

Answer 2

I was at the Garlic & Art festival in Massachusetts that is billed as zero-trash festival. All the paper plates, cups, forks and spoons are made from cornstarch and/or potato starch, and are fully compostable. Check out their website at http://www.garlicandarts.org/

You can order plates from:
http://www.mansfieldpaper.com/
http://greenearthofficesupply.stores.yahoo.net/kitsup.html

You will need to get a group together to make this happen (switch to compostable plates and trays), and will also need a local farm or garden where the trash can be composted. Best still, if the school has a garden, maybe you can rope in the gardener(s) to start a compost pile - that way, all trash can be composted on-site and used to feed the plants in the garden. Check out vermicomposting and also contact your city/town - they may have some ideas.

Good luck!

Answer 3

You can't recycle them. There are no viable technology to remake styrofoam products using old ones. You should ask your school to use paper trays, which should be made of recycled paper. Hope this helps.


XR

Answer 4

I am not sure where you live, or how big your community is, but this is sad to hear.

I have not seen styrofoam trays, just plates. but they should consider all plastic so they can be washed. Among environmentalists, we hope that the use of water to wash is 'softer' on the environment than all the pollution created in making the products new.

Thanks.

Answer 5

as quickly as I went to grade college, they set up a application the place some young ones might join the "recycling team" it would be a huge drawling with each and every of the youngsters names picked at random. anybody have been given a huge gamble to do it. in the process the lunch recess the recycling team might substantial different up with a chosen instructor and that they might bypass around the college gathering information papers or extra printing papers and cans and such. each and every new child might get slightly "prize certificates" asserting they have been element of the gang. it replaced into stunning and helped the college out a ton too.

Answer 6

There really isn't a way to recycle used styrofoam, as yet.

Answer 7

You can't really, they need to switch to ones made from recycled cardboard or other recyclable material.