SURPRISE! Banning Styrofoam Creates All Kinds of Problems Including Environmental Ones
29th May 2018
On average, 2.3 million tons of Styrofoam end up in landfills every year in the United States. That is less than 7 percent of the nearly 33.54 million tons of plastic Americans discard annually. Additionally, replacing Styrofoam products with paper alternatives often creates more waste (in volume and energy use) and generates more air and water pollution. The environmental impact of paper manufacturing is worse than foam manufacturing.
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Banning Styrofoam creates other problems. The material is used widely in the food and packaging industries and such industries typically provide ownership and employment opportunities for minorities. In 2014, New York City collected an estimated 28,500 tons of plastic foam, about 90 percent of which came from single-use containers for the customers of food vendors and restaurants. Vendors using foam containers are less able to absorb the costs of switching to more environmentally friendly materials because many are small businesses that operate on thin profit margins. Bans also impose costs on the foam manufacturing industry. The direct and indirect impacts of prohibiting EPS manufacturing in New York could eliminate 2,000 jobs and $400 million in economic activity. In California, an estimated 8,000 jobs could disappear.
May 30th, 2018 at 10:15
The interesting thing about Styrofoam (to me) is that its very recyclable in plants that use the stuff. Because Styrofoam is mostly empty space, manufacturers try not to ship it. They instead build a small plant next to a place that uses the foam. Trimmings or substandard pieces are recycled in the plant.
The problem, as such, is that you cannot have Styrofoam mixed in with paper that is being recycled in public trash. Paper mills don’t allow employees to bring in Styrofoam cups because even one small cup can ruin tons of paper.
Of course, Styrofoam is very combustible and could be used as fuel – if the idiots on the left would let us make fuel out of used stuff.