What is a foam made of?

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"Foam" Is Actually Expanded Poloystyrene (EPS - Foam Coolers, Foam Cups, Etc.)



When you buy foam cups or foam fishing buckets or even foam coolers like the ones we make at LoBoy, you're buying a product made of Expanded Polystyrene (or, "EPS" for short). EPS foam is an awesome, space-age material that is environmentally friendly because it is recyclable as long as it's not ruined by screen printing or other processes that eat into the foam with nasty industrial chemicals. Some EPS foam manufacturers mess up its recyclability by painting over the pure material rather than ensuring that it is reusable.


Many products these days are made from EPS foam - floating boat docks, highway construction, homes (insulated walls), foam coolers, foam shipping containers that keep seafood and pharmaceuticals from spoiling (a shipping process known as "Cold Chain Shipping"), foam cups and plates, EPS foam packaging protection for many of the things we buy in stores.


The thing about good EPS foam products is, again, that they can be recycled for reuse. LoBoy maintains a 100% EPS foam recycling program, and we hope to see most people begin setting aside the foam products they would normally throw away so that what usually goes in the trash instead becomes a form of treasure that leads to more jobs.