On October 28, from 9 to 1, volunteers will be collecting Styrofoam from Town residents who have a Medfield Transfer Station sticker.
Changes have been made to what items can be accepted due to vendor requests and recycling market changes. Only white Styrofoam can be collected. What can be collected includes packing blocks, clean white take-out containers, hot cups such as those from Dunkin’ Donuts, Honey Dew Donuts, and Cumberland Farms, and white foam egg cartons.
To assist volunteers, those dropping off Styrofoam are asked to remove labels and tape from coolers and packing blocks, and also to ensure that cups and food containers are well rinsed and clean of food.
Food-soiled Styrofoam (that includes stained Styrofoam) will not be accepted, nor will colored foam, plastic utensils, foam cups infused with cardboard or paper (such as cups from McDonald’s and Burger King ice tea cups), biodegradable foams, produce and meat-trays, polyurethane foam, food containers with plastic film attached, and pipe insulation.
Packing peanuts are no longer accepted. Clean, reusable Styrofoam peanuts may be brought to Express Business Center (258A Main St., Medfield, 508-359-7444), Postal Center (14 Milliston Rd. B, Millis, 508-376-1200), or UPS (689 Main St, Route 1A Marketplace, Walpole, 508-668-8700).
Recycling Styrofoam is costly. One of the reasons that more collections are not held during the year is due to the high cost of getting containers for collection events, not to mention the cost of renting a truck to ship food containers to a separate vendor.
Help is needed to sort and pack the Styrofoam during the collection event. Interested parties may contact Barb Meyer at [email protected].
The next Styrofoam collection is planned for December/January 2018.
October is Medfield Green Month, a collaboration between Medfield Green and the Town of Medfield. Medfield Employers & Merchants Organization (MEMO) kindly sponsors the event.
