Fraser Coast Regional Council, Queensland, landfill and transfer stations are now taking expanded polystyrene packaging free of charge since the purchase of a machine that melts the polystyrene into reusable bricks.
Councillor, David Lee, said, “The machine has four main benefits – it diverts polystyrene from landfill which saves space in the landfill; creates a product that can be reused to make other products; cuts the cost for residents to dispose of rubbish and saves Council money.
“While polystyrene does not weigh a lot, it takes up a lot of space in landfill. The more we can divert from landfill the longer our landfill sites will last.
“The bricks can be further processed to produce a range of products such as composite decking, picture frames and skirting boards.
“While we do not expect to make money from selling the bricks, we anticipate we will cover the cost of operating the melting machine.
The process reduces the volume of polystyrene
by 90 percent.
