Foam for plastic is a class of polymer material formed by a large number of gas micropores dispersed in a solid plastic, which is lightweight, heat-insulating, sound-absorbing, water-resistant, etc., making it an ideal material for building insulation, storage and packaging. In addition, foam has good buoyancy and is commonly used in buoyancy devices, water sports equipment and transportation packaging. Foam molding has become an important area in plastics processing. 

There are several common types of foam:

1) Polystyrene Foam (EPS): Often referred to as PS, it is a lightweight, insulating and durable material made from polystyrene. It has many unique properties that make it widely used in various fields like construction, packaging, transportation, and other products such as floor mats, insulation, and cushioning packaging.

2) Polyethylene foam (EPE): is made of polyethylene resin as the main body, plus blowing agent, crosslinking agent and other additives. It is a very important kind of foam which is widely used in precision instruments, household appliances, glass and ceramic products, handicrafts, valuables as cushioning packaging.

3) Polyurethane Foam (PU): is made of isocyanate and polyol as the main raw materials. It is characterized by excellent elasticity, toughness and abrasion resistance, as well as good acoustic and thermal insulation properties, and thus is widely used in furniture, automobiles, construction, refrigeration, packaging and other fields, such as mattresses, seats, insulating materials and so on.

Foam recycling methods:

Despite many advantages, foam faces environmental challenges. Due to its large size and difficulty in compression, foam takes up a lot of space in waste disposal. Recycling foam is therefore essential to reduce waste and environmental impact.

GREENMAX self-developed machinery like compactor and densifier can handle a wide range of foams such as EPS, XPS, EPE, EPP and PU, and can effectively reduce the volume, greatly improves the efficiency of foam recycling, and lower the cost of transportation. GREENMAX Foam Recycling Machine can reduce the volume of foam to 1/50, 1/70 and 1/90 of its original size, and helps more than 400 recycling sites in more than 50 countries to achieve the foam waste recycling and turns the waste into the valuables!

In addition, GREENMAX has developed pelletizing lines for EPS, EPE, EPP and other rigid plastics. It uses advanced crushing, extruding and pelletizing technologies to rapidly process foam and rigid plastic into pellets. With the high automation, easy operation and maintenance, which can great improve production efficiency and reduce labor costs, besides, it can handle large quantities of foam in a short period of time.

Foam, as a multifunctional material, is widely used in various industries. However, in order to minimize the environmental impact, we need to pay attention to the recycling of waste foam. By adopting appropriate recycling methods and machine, we can turn discarded foam into valuable resources and realize the goal of sustainable development. Let’s work together to promote the recycling of foam and contribute to the protection of the environment.