Styrofoam

Production:

Styrofoam is made from styrene, which is a natural hydrocarbon that takes the form of a liquid. The styrene must be polymerized into polystyrene to become a solid, which is a complex process that linkes the small pieces of styrene together in a chain. In this process, the styrene is heated to form small Styrofoam bead. Then, the beads are molded.

If the Styrofoam is not recycled, it can sit in landfills for millions of years because it never fully breaks down. It also releases CFCs into the air when broken apart, which deplete the ozone causing the temperature on Earth to rise.

In addition to the environmental concerns, Styrofoam can be harmful to health as well. Workers exposed to Styrene often suffer from irritation of the skin, eyes, and respiratory tract. Extensive exposure to Styrene can affect the nervous system and kidney function. When people heat Styrofoam, the toxic gas leaks into food which threatens human health and reproductive systems.

Because of Styrofoam's danger to the environment and health, you should try to use other products whenever possible.

Polysterene is very easily expanded; the final product of Styrofoam is usually composed of 98% air. To be expanded, the Styrofoam is again heated. Creating Styrofoam releases harmful greenhouse gases called CFCs into the air, depleting the ozone.

What Happens Next?

After Styrofoam is used, it can be discarded or recycled. However, the market for recycling is very small and continues to shrink. Luckily, the current Biopolymer revolution is charting a path for producing environmentally friendly packaging material to replace Styrofoam packing peanuts. Hopefully the product can be replaced, since the polysterene recycling is not entirely effective. More resources have to used to form the Styrofoam into new products.

At left: A man looks at a pile of Styrofoam at a recycling center.

At right: Recycling Styrofoam is better than discarding it, but it is not entirely effective.