Although Styrofoam can be recycled few places accept it because it is not cost effective. Styrofoam is too light. Recycling is measured and valued by the ton. Styrofoam is so light and bulky that this makes it difficult for facilities to manage Styrofoam. Styrofoam is similar to plastic bags in which it takes a very very long time to break down naturally. It sits in landfills for a very long time. Then, if it is incinerated it lets off toxic chemicals. There is no great way to dispose of Styrofoam.
So why is it still used in packaging? Can we think of better (greener) ways to package products?
When you are at the store, instead of buying chicken prepackaged with Styrofoam, go to the butcher counter and pick out your choice from the display. It is then wrapped up thus limiting the use of Styrofoam.
*Restricting the use of foamed polystyrene takeout food packaging is a priority of many solid waste environmental organizations. Efforts have been made to find alternatives to polystyrene, especially foam in restaurant settings. The original impetus was to eliminate chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), which was a former component of foam.
Read more:
http://www.cawrecycles.org/issues/plastic_campaign/polystyrene
http://www.keenforgreen.com/b/styrofoam-recyclable
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