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04/01/10: Can You Recycle Number 6 Cups?
I recently bought a cup of iced tea at a McDonald's restaurant. It was larger than expected, tasted good, and didn't cost much. But there was one downside; a massive polystyrene/styrofoam cup with a plastic lid. Seeing the recycling symbol and the number six on the bottom, I figured it must be possible to recycle the cup somewhere... So I did some research:
Alcoa, Tennessee takes plastics numbered 1-7, but excludes styrofoam with or without recycling symbols.
Brunswick, Maine's recycling program accepts plastic containers numbered 1-7, but also specifically excludes #6 styrofoam.
An article in the Concord Insider states that their local recycling program doesn't accept polystyrene items. Apparently the same goes for Miami.
It is possible to recycle #6 products in some parts of California, according to Earth911.com.
Upon further research, I found that many California cities don't accept it, though some have banned the material. Roseville and Long Beach do take polystyrene cups.
Dart.biz indicates that the company operates 13 polystyrene recycling collection facilities across the U.S. (and one in Canada), though most states lack them.
Some Ontario localities accept styrofoam for recycling, according to Canada.com. However, it is not recycled much in the other provinces.
According to the Oberlin College Recycling Program's website, Americans put about 25 billion such cups in the trash every year.
Basically, number six styrofoam/polystyrene cups can be recycled in theory and a few places in practice, but the best most people can do is avoid these cups or find ways to reuse them.
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