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Styrofoam Packaging for Food Is So Not Necessary Supermarket shoppers and restaurant patrons are familiar with the ubiquitous Styrofoam trays and containers that are routinely used for the packaging of fresh food, take-out meals and restaurant leftovers. Styrofoam is also used extensively as packing and shipping material, like those pesky “peanuts” that take up more space than the items they protect. These containers look innocuous enough until you start thinking about the enormous amount of waste they create in our landfills. Styrofoam is difficult to recycle because it is not readily accepted by recyclers or waste management systems. Consequently it is responsible for the huge volume it takes up in landfills, sometimes a whopping 30%. It is bad for the environment because it takes a very long time to break down. It is banned in some communities because it is linked to cancer in humans. The name of the actual material is polystyrene or EPS (Expanded Polystyrene), but most people know it by its brand name “Styrofoam”, a trademark of the Dow Chemical Co. This plastic material is made from petroleum. The Wikipedia definition of polystyrene is a polymer made from the monomer styrene, a liquid hydrocarbon that is commercially manufactured from petroleum by the chemical industry. Polystyrene was first discovered in 1839 by Eduard Simon, a German apothecary. He distilled an oily substance from storax, the resin of the Turkish sweetgum tree (Liquidambar orientalis) that he named styrol. Uses - Styrofoam is widely used all over the world for various purposes. Supermarkets, fast food chains and take-out food outlets routinely use it for food service and packaging (cups, plates, bowls, trays, clamshells, egg cartons, etc.). Other industries use it for protective packing materials like the loose fill “peanuts”, as shaped end pieces used to ship electronic goods and household appliances, and molded packing material for cushioning fragile items inside shipping cartons. It is also used as insulation in the homebuilding sector.
soon as polystyrene is contaminated by food it is no longer recyclable. Non-contaminated polystyrene products are currently not widely recycled either due to the lack of economic incentive to invest in the machinery, compactors and logistical systems required to repurpose this material. Styrofoam must be shredded, compacted or melted down before it can be reused. Current Styrofoam Recycling and Reuse Programs - Some effort is being made to find alternatives to the use of polystyrene, especially in restaurant settings. Restricting the use of polystyrene takeout food packaging is a priority of many solid waste environmental organizations. In 2007 Canada launched a campaign in Toronto to achieve the first ban of polystyrene in the food & beverage industry. About one hundred cities in the United States currently have some sort of ban on the use of polystyrene in restaurants. For instance, in 2007 restaurants in Oakland, California were required to switch to disposable food containers that will biodegrade if added to food compost. McDonald’s, the iconic American fast food chain, has faced mounting pressure to replace the polystyrene packaging used for its take-out burgers and sandwiches. They have launched a plan for a smaller waste and packaging footprint with the (eventual) elimination of the polystyrene clamshells. Starbucks has announced their goal of switching to 100% recyclable paper cups by 2015. Meanwhile, Dunkin’ Donuts lags far behind on the green front. The company still uses styrofoam cups for most of its hot beverages. On the FAQ’s of its web site, Dunkin’ Donuts claims that Styrofoam is recyclable. While that may be technically true, it is a bit of an ingenious claim as it is well know that most recyclers do not accept the material, especially from contaminated food packaging. In Germany, polystyrene is widely collected as a consequence of a stringent packaging law that requires manufacturers to take responsibility for recycling or disposing of any packaging material they sell. In the US and many other countries, the interest in recycling polystyrene has led to the establishment of collection points. Several producers of large quantities of polystyrene waste (50 tons per year or more) have invested in the EPS compactors and are able to sell the compacted blocks to plastic recyclers. Some American manufacturers have produced insulating concrete forms made with approximately 80% recycled EPS since 1993.
Environmental Impact and Health Hazards - Polystyrene is not widely recycled and discarded polystyrene does not biodegrade for hundreds of years. Styrofoam constitutes roughly 30% of the total plastic waste that gets dumped in our landfills and in the oceans. It is a major component of plastic debris in the ocean, where it becomes toxic to marine life. It breaks down into small indigestible pellets which animals perceive as food. When ingested by birds and marine mammals, it often blocks their digestive tracts, causes starvation, and ultimately death. Polystyrene is hazardous to human health. It contains the neurotoxins styrene and benzene, which are widely accepted to be carcinogens. These toxins can leach into food that is hot, acidic, alcoholic or oily and into the environment after exposure to rain. In 2011 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released its Report on Carcinogens identifying styrene as one of the “agents, substances, mixtures, and exposure circumstances that are known or reasonably anticipated to cause cancer in humans.” Many cities in the US have banned or restricted the use of polystyrene because of the threats it poses to human and environmental health and wildlife. Health officials worldwide are now beginning to see the danger of styrofoam leaching toxins into food, and environmentalists point at the carcinogenic substances released into the atmosphere when styrofoam is burned. At the source, the manufacturing of polystyrene is contributing to the growing hole in the ozone layer. Difficult to Recycle - Styrofoam is the worst of the packaging offenders. It is made of non-renewable petroleum and once manufactured, it is not biodegradable. There are relatively few facilities that accept this material for recycling, especially when used as food packaging due to the high rate of food contamination and clean-up costs before it can be processed for recycling. As
Greatpac is a Malaysian company which produces biodegradable food packaging containers as an alternative to styrofoam for the food industry. These containers and plates are similar in consistency as regular styrofoam containers and are oil-and water-proof. Their partners are KFC, Tesco and Pizza Hut. Sadly, they have no customers in Indonesia.
A company in Austria produces a brick product called RASTRA. RASTRA is an Insulating Concrete Form (ICF) that is structurally strong, energy-efficient, sound absorbent, non-combustible, resistant to high wind, mold & pests. It is made from 85% recycled styrofoam and 15% cement. RASTRA is an alternative building solution for economical and environmentally-friendly construction. British company STI-EcoTech Ltd uses thermal compaction and a Styromelt machine that essentially melts polystyrene to form a dense block of material that is reduced in volume by over 95% of the original material. So a 2 cubic meter load of polystyrene comes out of the machine as a small block approximately 90cm x 25cm x 5cm. The blocks can be sold to recycling companies who then turn it into fuels such as diesel or new products such as garden furniture. Bio-degradable Alternatives - Biodegradable packing materials are gaining momentum. There are manufacturers out there who produce biodegradable products such as food containers, tableware, cups, etc. US company Genpak in New York produces a line of environmentally friendly containers that are either fully compostable or are greatly reduced in the amount of normal raw resources required to produce them. There are no petrochemical resin sources used in the process. They are starch products derived from a hybrid material that replaces a full 60% of the traditional plastic material with natural starches. Another American company called Puffy Stuff produces a plant-based compound that is an all-natural packaging material and post-use, can be recycled as fertilizer in your garden. It breaks down into inert proteins after coming in contact with water and is consumed by soil bacteria. If not reused, Puffy Stuff can be put in a landfill where it is completely biodegradable by ISO definition, i.e. 100% consumed by bacteria. No petrochemicals are used in its production. In a similar vein, scientists at Sony have discovered that EPS completely dissolves when sprayed with limonene, a natural oil extracted from the skin of oranges or other citrus fruits.
In Bali, Carrefour supermarkets have been in the news lately with the welcome introduction of a plastic reduction program. Carrefour ostensibly stopped giving away free plastic bags to shoppers and is now encouraging customers to bring their own bags or purchase the store’s reusable green cloth bags or biodegradable plastic bags which will decompose in two years. However, the program does not include the reduction or elimination of styrofoam trays and packaging currently still in use in the Carrefour stores, as they are in all other supermarkets and food outlets in Bali. Most organizations in Bali that are involved with waste management and recycling do not have specific programs per se to tackle styrofoam. Most will gladly handle paper, plastic, metal, glass, fabric scraps, Tetra-Pak cartons etc. But styrofoam is a challenge because most of it has to be commercially recycled and those facilities are totally lacking in Bali. Eco Bali and Bali Recycling will accept styrofoam though it is currently not recyclable. The Sukunan Solution. Sukunan is an eco-tourism village in Yogyakarta with a successful waste management system that was started in 1997 by Pak Iswanto, an enterprising visionary who realized that solid waste should be managed in an environmental friendly way. His motto: Begin from small and begin from now to reduce the waste. He initiated a Community Empowerment Process to implement the Sukunan Waste Management System. It was a resounding success and the formula spread to other areas. When an earthquake destroyed many houses and buildings in the village, the idea to use styrofoam as rebuilding material emerged. By grinding the styrofoam into granules and mixing it with cement, sand and water to make bricks, this pesky material could finally be put to a useful purpose. What can you do to recycle styrofoam? - Many communities have banned the use of styrofoam. Until it is banned in its entirety, it may be beneficial to know how to recycle it. Though recycling efforts for EPS are a little more complex than for paper and other plastics, it is worth taking the time and initiative in order to keep this obnoxious material in use and out of landfills. • •
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Check with local cargo companies and shipping businesses to see if they can reuse styrofoam packing materials such as peanuts in their shipping. Keep polystyrene products to reuse as packaging materials for shipping or to separate breakable items on moving day; use as storage containers, gift containers (by wrapping them in foil, gift wrap, fabric scraps, etc.) Some of the most common uses for reusing Styrofoam are craft projects. Cut out shapes for holiday ornaments, make toys and figurines; fashion a bean bag; make a cat or dog house with the bigger pieces, even a kid’s playhouse; create maquettes for sculptures and sets for theatrical productions; tunnels, hills and various components for model train sets, Use as floating devices and floaters for fishing and boating For the intrepid gardener: use as seedling containers; cut up and use as drainage material in the bottom of potted plants; place underneath pumpkins and squashes to protect them from damp earth, There are many recycling ideas on the internet. For starters, check “How to recycle styrofoam” on www.ehow.com
Story by Ines Wynn
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