[spacedcowgirl]

This is a layman's question, so I hope it is OK to post here. My local recycling center accepts expanded polystyrene/styrofoam, and the sign on the compactor says "styrofoam only." Not knowing anything about the production process, it seems to me that, especially since they are compacting the styrofoam anyway, it should be OK to also throw in non-expanded polystyrene materials (e.g. Starbucks lids, Tic-Tacs containers, medicine bottle dosage cups, etc.) Obviously this is not a huge "waste stream" in our house weight-wise nor is it a burning question, but I wanted to get a definitive answer and Google wasn't helping me much.

If someone has a moment and wouldn't mind outlining the production process for these two types of materials, that would be great, but that part would be just for my own curiosity. Thanks for your time!

(I have heard that polystyrene recycling isn't that profitable, etc. but my local center does take it--so I'm not really interested in getting into whether I "should" recycle either EPS or Starbucks lids or whether it is worth it, just whether I can. Thanks again!)

[typhoon2028]

The recycling plant may have a chipper that breaks up the EPS.  A hard lid might jam the chipper or dull blades.  The lids and EPS might also have different melt flow, physical properties, and or additives.

[spacedcowgirl]

Those are good points that I hadn't thought of... thanks so much for your help.

Any other thoughts from anyone? As of right now I guess I'll just start putting those items in the trash (or better yet, remembering to take a reusable cup to the coffee shop  )