Firstly, polystyrene is very flammable, unless treated with a special flame retardant, so please don’t use waste polystyrene sheets as insulation for a room where someone sleeps or in the main part of a house.
Secondly, it’s brilliant for covering up an otherwise frosty garage window during the winter, or as extra greenhouse insulation. We’ve even discovered some dedicated reusers using waste polystyrene to replace part of the roof on an external bathroom!
5. Keep polystyrene packing materials for reuse
Polystyrene bits and bobs are very useful for cushioning delicate items in a house move or for sending breakables through the post. Larger moulded sections can even be ‘carved’ with a craft knife to fit the required shape.
6. Use as raised beds for a patio
Large, deep, moulded polystyrene pieces, from big box appliances or coolers at fish markets for example, make excellent DIY raised beds for the garden. They may come with ‘drainage holes’ as part of the manufacturing process, but if not carefully use a craft knife to make your own.
Not the most elegant garden reuse we’ve ever seen, but filled with a heavenly mix of bee-friendly wildflowers or more traditional bedding plants they look a treat!
7. Get junk modelling with the smaller members of your family
Have you ever noticed how some moulded polystyrene pieces look like model buildings? Glue on a few paper details and the kids can have a whole toy city to play ‘Godzilla’ with or race cars around.
