Dive summary:

• Keep California Beautiful recognized Burrtec Waste Industries for its Southern California foam recycling program which has collected and recycled 282,000 pounds of foam waste since 2010.
• Burrtec collects, sorts, processes and ships the foam to a business that remakes the material into green building materials, picture frames and other goods.
• According to the EPA, Americans throw away more than 25 billion foam cups every year, which stay in landfills up to 500 years.

From the article:

Polystyrene, sometimes known by the trademarked name Styrofoam, is a nightmare for waste haulers and states that must meet requirements for reducing the amount of trash going to landfills.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans throw away more than 25 billion foam cups every year – cups that will still be in the landfill 500 years from now.

Numerous cities in California have banned the non-biodegradable, petroleum-based product in takeout food containers over the last four years. ...