Small journey, big difference: what happens to recycled polystyrene

Community members who drop off polystyrene for recycling can feel even better about taking the extra step.

Surf Coast Shire Council is one of the few Victorian councils that accepts polystyrene foam for recycling at the Anglesea Transfer Station.

And now we’ve found an even more sustainable solution.

Previously polystyrene was collected loose and sent to Asia for processing. Now, it is baled locally and re-manufactured into sustainable insulation board in Melbourne.

Processing polystyrene in Victoria means we have traceability over its journey, while supporting local remanufacturing jobs and avoiding export emissions.

How to recycle polystyrene

You can drop off household quantities up to 0.5m³ (equivalent to a car boot) for free at Anglesea Transfer Station. Larger quantities will be charged a fee of $18/m³.

If you can’t get to the transfer station, you can place polystyrene in your landfill bin (red lid) but this means it will be disposed of in landfill.

Polystyrene is not accepted in your recycling bin (yellow lid), as it can contaminate the kerbside recycling. To recycle polystyrene, it must be taken to Anglesea Transfer Station where it can be separated and recycled through our specialised remanufacturer.

What happens to it

1. Staff sort the polystyrene to ensure it is clean, with minimal contamination.
2. Our polystyrene baler (introduced in late 2025) compresses the polystyrene into blocks with a compaction ratio of 40:1.
3. Compressed polystyrene blocks are then collected by manufacturer Foamex to be transformed into new products.

We estimate that around 9-10 tonnes will be recycled per year.

A new sustainable solution

Foamex takes our baled polystyrene and turns it into a sustainable insulation board product, called Styroboard (which can contain up to 90% recycled clean polystyrene).

This can be used in slabs for residential homes, cold storage facilities, caravan insulation, pool construction and even on green roofs, which are vegetated roofing systems.

If you’re at the Anglesea Transfer Station, our staff can show you examples of the recycled pellets and the Styroboard end product.

Did you know?

• Foam insultation and packaging (including polystyrene) was in The Great Barrier Reef’s top-five marine debris items found in a study between 2019 and 2025. (Source: Australian Marine Debris Initiative and Tangaroa Blue)
  
  
• A 2022 Yarra Riverkeeper Association report  found that polystyrene was the highest littered macroplastic in the Melbourne river. 

Fast fact

Polystyrene is also known as expanded polystyrene, or EPS.