New Styrofoam Collection Station Now Open in Kent County

Congratulations! You got a new appliance! But now you're left with a pile of Styrofoam. So... what do you do with it?

If you've ever tried getting rid of Polystyrene Foam (a.k.a. Styrofoam), you know it's not as simple as tossing it in your recycling bin. Curbside recycling programs won’t take it and only a handful of places around West Michigan do. The good news? There’s a new drop-off site in the Grand Rapids area ready to take that foam off your hands!

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New Styrofoam Collection Site in Kent County, Mich.

Steve Faber, Kent County Commissioner of District 18 (Northeast Grand Rapids) shared on Facebook that a Polystyrene Foam collection station is now up and running at the North Kent Transfer Station in Rockford.

Thanks to grant funding, Kent County Recycling and Waste was able to purchase and install a foam densifier — a game changer when it comes to handling this kind of material that makes it way easier to recycle.

Faber explains:

“That makes trucking this light, bulky material more efficient and gets it back into the recycling market. Styrofoam is a hard-to-recycle material because it can't go in your recycling bin and, until now, there were only a couple places with select hours that accepted the material around the county.”

Take note, the new station only accepts white packaging Styrofoam.

Where Can You Take Styrofoam in the Grand Rapids Area?

According to Kent County Recycling and Waste, Styrofoam should never go in your curbside recycling cart or in their recycling drop-off stations. Because it's so brittle, foam products can crumble and clog sorting machines or cling to other recyclables preventing them from getting recycled.

👇BELOW: 13 Things You Can't Recycle in Michigan👇

So where can you discard foam in the Grand Rapids area?

The new foam collection station is located at the North Kent Recycling & Waste Center at 2908 Ten Mile Road in Rockford.

On Kent County's website they share local businesses that may accept Styrofoam, like Atlas EPS, Michigan Foam, Sealed Air, and UPS Stores. Also, keep an eye out for Styrofoam collection events in your neighborhood! I live in Alger Heights and there are a couple that are held each year.

Aside from that, if you're not able to recycle, foam can go in your garbage or can be landfilled at Kent County's residential trash drop-off sites for a fee: