Imagine the day after Christmas – empty plastic cups, scratched plastic plates, shredded wrapping paper and polystyrene boxes cover every street. It’s a celebration to remember, but one you don’t look forward to cleaning up. While you might be tempted to shove everything into a sturdy black bag, there are better ways to deal with all that waste.

Christmas generates a lot of extra polystyrene packaging waste, and your local recycler will be happy to help you disposal of it. Here are some common recyclable items you’ll find during your post-Christmas cleanup, and how to dispose of them sustainably.

Wrapping Paper and Gift Bags

Paper is made from 100% recyclable wood fibers. This year, consider placing all leftover shredded gift wrapping paper in a different bag from your regular trash. This way, the paper will stay clean and dry. Once paper gets wet, it starts to break down and may no longer be suitable for recycling.

You can also recycle paper gift bags and Christmas cards, which are made from lightweight cardboard and fetch a higher price at recycling centers. Be sure to separate wrapping paper from non-paper elements - remove Scotch tape, staples, ribbons, strings, etc. Keep the parts that can be reused and throw away the rest. Finally, be careful with metallic and glittery paper and bags - they may contain plastics that cannot be recycled with regular waste paper.

Polystyrene Packaging Boxes and Void Filling

Online shopping is the new normal, especially around Christmas. The good news is that the boxes you receive your presents in are 100% recyclable! Instead of throwing them out, put them all together and sell them to a local recycler. Polystyrene and polystyrene peanuts are also 100% recyclable, so don’t throw your polystyrene boxes in the trash! Contact GREENMAX to find out where you can recycle polystyrene packaging near you. Most plastic collection points also accept polystyrene.

GREENMAX & JB Hi-Fi New Polystyrene Packaging Recycling Solution

To satisfy consumers, JB HI-FI offers shipment service for home appliances and electronic devices and also collects back packaging, such as cardboard, and polystyrene foam packaging. JB HI-FI has to set up its recycling centers in warehouses in each state.

JB HI-FI has a hot melting machine to process polystyrene foam, but because its insurance company believes that the polystyrene hot melting machine has potential safety hazards, it cannot provide corresponding insurance services. Therefore, JB HI-FI urgently needed a new solution to deal with polystyrene foam. At this time, they found GREENMAX, a company that specializes in providing polystyrene foam recycling solutions. After learning about the needs of JB HI-FI, GREENMAX provided it with EPS Compactor Apolo Series solutions, but after communication, GREENMAX Apolo Series was unable to meet the needs of JB HI-FI. GREENMAX's engineering team analyzed the needs of JB HI-FI in detail and developed a new hydraulic compactor for it. The hydraulic compactor perfectly solves the needs of JB HI-FI, which not only guarantees that the polystyrene foam can be recycled but also passes the evaluation of the insurance company.

In April 2022, JB HI-FI purchased GREENMAX hydraulic compactor, the latest polystyrene compacting technology in the world, integrating the benefits of standard polystyrene screw compactor and also hot melting machines. Equipped with high-efficient automated hydraulic system, the waste polystyrene is crushed and after that moved right into a storage bin of the GREENMAX Heracles Series polystyrene Compactor via a screw and then compressed right into dense and uniform blocks with a volume reduction Proportion of 70:1, reducing the volume of waste polystyrene, as a result saving storage space and also transportation prices.

Where To Recycle Christmas Polystyrene Packaging

While most informal recyclers will gladly accept cardboard and polystyrene packaging for recycling, there are some types of packaging they may leave behind. For a truly zero-waste Christmas, you can take these materials to a recycling centre yourself.

Can’t find what you’re looking for? Contact GREENMAX for more information.