Are Paper Cups Recyclable?

Disposable paper cups are made from a combination of materials. A thicker layer of paper makes up the majority of its contents, along with a thin layer of wax or plastic film.

Wax or plastic layers keep the cups from leaking liquid, regardless of whether they are for hot or cold beverages. Although this feature makes paper cups convenient and effective, it also renders them unrecyclable by most conventional means.

Is Styrofoam Recyclable?

Styrofoam is actually a genericized brand name for the actual material called polystyrene. Polystyrene containers do have a #6 recycle symbol in it, but very few recycling centers accept it. Since it is such a light material and, since raw commodity recycling is purchased by the ton, polystyrene's market value is less than other commodities. It may be more profitable in extremely large quantities, but usual amounts produced by residential recycling collection has very little demand as a recycled product.