In the United States, over 80 thousand tons of Expanded polystyrene (EPS), or Styrofoam
, are consumed on an annual basis, of which less than 5,000 tons are recycled. Some suppliers have programs to take back or reduce EPS/Styrofoam from their supply chain, but the EPS/Styrofoam that remains in our supply chain cannot be recycled in standard single-stream recycling.
However, specialty recycling of EPS/Styrofoam is available locally through Appliance Warehouse, an appliance vendor in Pittsburgh’s Southside neighborhood. Appliance Warehouse operates a public EPS/Styrofoam drop off and use an onsite densifier to process these materials into ingots for sale on the recycling market.
To meet our Pitt Sustainability goal to reduce landfill waste 25% by 2030 (from 2017 levels), Pitt is excited to announce the launch of a recycling pilot for on-campus EPS/Styrofoam in partnership with Pitt Logistics and Appliance Warehouse.
The Styrofoam Recycling Pilot launched in February 2025, focused on collecting and diverting EPS/Styrofoam from the labs on campus who receive cold chain shipments in EPS/Styrofoam coolers. It’s estimated that Pitt labs receive 6,500 pieces of EPS/Styrofoam cold packaging annually.
To participate in the Styrofoam Recycling Pilot, drop off your clean, dry EPS/Styrofoam from Pitt purchases at one of the three collection bins located in Salk Hall, Clapp/Langley/Crawford, and the School of Public Health. All stickers and tape must be removed, and coolers must be taken out of their cardboard shipping boxes. Smaller EPS/Styrofoam should be placed in a bag or cooler for drop off.
This pilot is only for EPS/Styrofoam from on-campus operations and is not open to the public. If you have EPS/Styrofoam at home you want to recycle please take it to Appliance Warehouse. For complete instructions and precise collection bin locations, head to the following page:
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