Styrofoam Fights For Its Life As Plastic Industry Mounts Recycling Push

Polystyrene — nan integrative America loves to dislike — wants a 2nd chance.

Used successful foam cups, packaging peanuts and nan molded blocks that cushion appliances successful transit, polystyrene has agelong been attacked arsenic difficult to recycle, hazardous to oversea life and perchance harmful to quality health.

Environmentalists opportunity polystyrene foam is simply a important root of integrative contamination successful waterways and marine environments, wherever it tin break into mini pieces and beryllium eaten by wildlife. Widely referred to successful nan U.S. arsenic styrofoam (in truth nan trademarked sanction of insulation made by DuPont de Nemours Inc.), polystyrene foam isn’t accepted by astir curbside recycling programs.

“Polystyrene foam is 1 of nan astir problematic single-use plastics,” said Christy Leavitt, plastics run head for Oceana. “It is past clip to return action connected it.”

As caller laws restrict nan usage of polystyrene, nan manufacture is pushing backmost and trying to rehabilitate nan material’s image. Polystyrene is safe, efficient, recyclable and misunderstood, its makers say.

The Polystyrene Recycling Alliance, a assemblage created past twelvemonth that counts 17 companies arsenic members, has been moving to forestall bans and guarantee nan worldly is treated arsenic recyclable nether caller authorities packaging laws.

“There’s nan communicative that polystyrene is not portion of nan information future,” said Justin Riney, chair of nan confederation and an executive astatine shaper Ineos Styrolutions. “We are adamant that we person nan data, and we cognize that our products are portion of nan future.”

‘Problematic’ plastic

Polystyrene’s estimation began to crumble successful 1988, erstwhile a lawmaker successful New York’s Suffolk County projected banning polystyrene nutrient containers, mounting disconnected copycat bills crossed nan nation. Anti-foam activists recovered a poster kid successful nan McDonald’s Corp. hamburger clamshell: It was bulky, not recycled and made pinch chlorofluorocarbons that damaged nan ozone layer.

McDonald’s dropped nan CFCs but couldn’t assuage its critics. After 2 years of grounded recycling attempts, it dropped nan clamshell too, replacing it pinch non-recyclable insubstantial wraps. Other companies followed. Some later returned to cheaper foam, but nan reputational harm to polystyrene was difficult to rotation back.

Since then, astatine slightest 12 states and much than 250 counties and cities person restricted single-use integrative foam, mostly food-service containers, according to nan Surfrider Foundation. In 2022, nan U.S. Plastics Pact, a voluntary manufacture statement aimed astatine cutting integrative waste, put polystyrene connected its database of “problematic and unnecessary resins.”

Between 2021 and 2024, North American polystyrene foam income fell complete 16%, according to nan American Chemistry Council. But nan worldly still has its defenders, particularly successful reddish states: Last month, Alaska’s politician vetoed a measure to prohibition polystyrene foam food-service containers, and Montana’s politician past twelvemonth vetoed a akin bill, calling it “costly authorities overreach.”

The International Agency for Research connected Cancer has classified styrene, nan plastic’s chemic building block, arsenic “probably carcinogenic to humans,” based mostly connected worker exposure. Studies person recovered it tin leach into nutrient and drinks, particularly erstwhile they are basking aliases greasy. Democrats successful Congress precocious introduced a measure that would deem polystyrene unsafe for nutrient packaging.

The manufacture counters that Food and Drug Administration and European regulators person said polystyrene poses nary important wellness consequence erstwhile made and utilized properly. It says polystyrene has very different properties from styrene and that people’s mean vulnerability is overmuch little than nan FDA’s acceptable regular intake.

Since past year, nan confederation has been moving societal media posts pinch nan taglines “Polystyrene: a safe, coagulated material” and “Styrene is moreover recovered successful nature.”

Another connection it’s emphasizing is that polystyrene foam, because it’s mostly air, is sparing successful its usage of material, which limits its biology footprint.

The manufacture is trying to person immoderate of its biggest customers to instrumentality pinch it. At a convention for home-furnishings makers past summer, Joe Gryzb, sustainability caput astatine Engineered Foam Packaging, presented information showing that cushioning a washing instrumentality during transit pinch polystyrene foam alternatively than cardboard utilized 69% little material.

Recycling push

But erstwhile it comes to recycling, polystyrene’s lightweight bulk is its Achilles’ heel. Trucks and retention accommodation capable up quickly pinch worldly that yields small worth by weight, making postulation and carrier economically unviable. Just 3.6% of polystyrene containers and packaging successful nan U.S. are recycled, according to nan U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s astir precocious disposable data.

Seven states person now passed extended shaper work laws requiring packaging producers to thief salary for collection, sorting and recycling of integrative waste. California’s is nan astir fierce and affects a immense market. There, nan recycling complaint for single-use integrative packaging and food-service ware must scope 30% by 2028, rising to 65% by 2032.

The confederation says it’s aiming to grow recycling entree for polystyrene to nan astir 60% period astatine which a package tin beryllium branded “widely recyclable” successful nan US. It has not made a patient committedness to scope that period by a peculiar date, though it says it expects respective polystyrene formats to attack it by 2030. It besides wants to show that polystyrene has viable extremity markets, truthful nan fees producers salary nether nan caller laws will beryllium utilized to grow polystyrene recycling alternatively than bypass it.

One usage that’s a awesome attraction is carrier packaging. “It’s nan champion recycling communicative we have,” Riney said.

In May, nan confederation asked nan U.S. Plastics Pact — a voluntary manufacture conjugation aimed astatine cutting integrative discarded — to region carrier foam from its problematic materials list. It based on that nan foam is seldom littered, companies specified arsenic Home Depot Inc. return it backmost aft deliveries and much than 700 North American drop-off sites judge it for recycling. It besides asked nan pact to spare rigid polystyrene — utilized successful items for illustration yogurt cups, nutrient clamshells, coffee-cup lids and refrigerator interiors — saying it is being recycled into sheets, nutrient containers and architectural moldings. The pact says it is considering nan submissions.

While some rigid polystyrene and its foam version tin beryllium recycled utilizing accepted methods, they tin beryllium excessively debased successful measurement aliases contaminated to abstracted retired from different plastics. The manufacture is counting connected alternatives to assistance recycling rates. These see dissolution, which uses solvents to retrieve polystyrene arsenic pellets, and pyrolysis, which heats mixed integrative discarded successful debased oxygen to nutrient oil-like feedstocks for caller plastic.

Environmental groups sharply knock pyrolysis and different chemic recycling technologies, saying they are energy-intensive, tin create hazardous byproducts and often move integrative into substance alternatively of recycling it.

In caller months, nan confederation has begun backing recycling drop-off programs successful Nashville, Baltimore and Colorado that it hopes will service arsenic high-profile examples of really polystyrene tin beryllium recycled. Key to these efforts are foam densifiers: machines that region aerial from foam, shrinking it into dense logs that are acold much economical to transport.

Foam Cycle, which makes densifiers, says it’s sold 42 specified machines successful North America complete nan past six years. Founder Lou Troiano deploys a mascot called Buster Foam astatine recycling events. He says he spent $6,000 connected nan square-headed, rectangular-bodied costume. In Nashville, he handed retired 500 coloring books featuring Buster to section children.

Troiano would for illustration to spot his densifiers sold crossed nan state and says there’s plentifulness of request from section communities but a shortage of funding. He believes nan money will request to travel from able individuals who “just want to do nan correct thing.”

Although nan polystyrene confederation — which spent $85,000 successful mounting up nan Nashville effort, according to Riney — lists nan metropolis arsenic 1 of its “success stories” connected its website, Troiano says nan assemblage hasn’t returned his calls astir backing machines elsewhere.

“They’re smart; they’ll tally Nashville for a long, agelong clip to beryllium a point,” he said, “but they’re not changing anything.”

Meanwhile, Oceana plans to support pushing for nationwide restrictions, Leavitt said. A 2024 canvass from nan nonprofit recovered that 78% of U.S. respondents support nationalist policies that trim single-use integrative foam. Although polystyrene isn’t nan only integrative foam retired there, it’s nan 1 consumers interact pinch regularly and are astir alert of, says Leavitt.

“There is decidedly an appetite from nan wide nationalist and besides from decision-makers to return it on,” she said.

Chaudhuri writes for Bloomberg.