Dear Rosie,
I have heard that Styrofoam is harmful for the environment. My company uses Styrofoam in the cafeteria and I would like some information about problems with Styrofoam so that I might convince them to switch to reusables. For example, how long does it take for Styrofoam to break down in a landfill?
Signed,
Debbie
Dear Debbie,
Good for you for raising awareness and working to rid your work environment of that problematic, polluting, puffy white stuff. Polystyrene foam (PS) is a permanent, disposable material; it is designed to be used for only a few minutes, but lasts forever and ever ... and ever in our landfills. PS foam is created by injecting the plastic polymer, polystyrene, with a gasusually HCFC, CFC 11, or CFC 12 (all ozone destroying chlorofluorocarbons) or pentaneto expand it into the puffy material. Toxic and hazardous chemicals, including styrene, benzene and ethylene, are used to make PS foam and are a byproduct of PS foam production. Each of these chemicals is among the nations top 25 toxic air pollutants in terms of the total amount released into the environment each year. In addition, scientists indicate that 5% of the earths ozone layer has already been damaged due to ozone destroying compounds like CFCs. Many manufacturers label their PS foam containers as CFC free. Usually these labels say the PS foam is no longer made with fully halogenated chlorofluorocarbons, which means that the CFC 11 or 12 used previously has been replaced with HCFC 22, which, though less damaging to the ozone layer, is still a CFC and an ozone destroyer. PS foam is not only a major problem for the environment, it is also hazardous to your health in production and in use. According to Local Solutions for Global Pollution, a toxins activist organization in California, foods we eat or drink which are packaged in PS foam can leach styrene, a known neurotoxin and suspected carcinogen, into the food or drink and thus into our bodies. (Yum! A little styrene with your order, maam?) Air emissions of styrene are also a major source of human exposure. An EPA study that examined Americans for styrene contamination found that 100% of the people sampled had styrene in their fat tissue.
NOTE FROM ROSIE: Congratulations to Debbie, the author of this question, who did educate her co-workers on the PS foam issue and circulated a petition among the employees asking that Styrofoam disposables be replaced with reusables. Thanks to her, the company now uses reusable mugs and plates! Thanks, Debbie, for making a difference and tending your part of the garden, as we tree-huggers like to say.
Dear Rosie,
I have noticed that there is no recycling bin at your drop-off center for Styrofoam clamshell boxes. I have a lot of it and am wondering why Eco-Cycle doesnt take it.
Signed,
Styrofoam Piling Up in Denver
Dear Piling Up,
The Styrofoam questions abound, and its no wonder, given that Styrofoam is unfortunately the favorite to go box for most restaurants. Eco-Cycle is frequently asked why we dont recycle Styrofoam food containers. First of all, there are no viable markets for it. California had the last major polystyrene recycling facility in the country and that closed down last year. Recycling the material was totally uneconomical due to high quality standards for cleanliness and also because it is a low-weight material, and in this business where recyclers are paid by the pound, the revenue generated did not come close to covering collection, hauling and processing costs. There are no markets for post-consumer (i.e., used) Styrofoam in Colorado, so the material would have to be shipped quite a distance. When you combine all of those roadblocks to successful recycling with all of the significant personal health and environmental risks in production, Eco-Cycles stance is that we would rather see the use of PS foam discontinued. In fact, Styrofoam is one of the types of materials we would like to see addressed with the concept of Producer Responsibility (PR). (See article page 4.) Instead of creating a very polluting disposable product that will leach hazardous chemicals into the groundwater if deposited in a landfill, under PR rules manufacturers would be held accountable for their product for its entire life-cycle and charged with designing a product that is non-toxic and reusable, compostable, or easily recycled.
Send your recycling questions to:
Ask Rosie
c/o Eco-Cycle
P.O. Box 19006
Boulder, CO 80308.
Or: e-mail Rosie at recycle@ecocycle.org.
If we print your letter, we'll send you an Eco-Cycle mug.
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