Why are we still using styrafoam? Almost all the restaurants use it for thier take-out containers...not to mention Dunkin Donuts... How long ago was it that we learned that it takes almost forever for styrafoam to break down, and there still hasn't really been anything done about it. Are schools still using it for serving trays as well? Think about all the trash that could be avoided... I'm only one voice though...are there any organizations out there that I should know about and get involved in? It just seems horrible to me.
Yeah, plastic is the same way. People just don't care. They make biodegratable(sp) plastic, but no one really uses it. I hear it actually starts rotting in only a few years, which is obviously a big fault.
Styrafoam is just foamed plastic. The material is as recycleable as other plastics. Howerver, the low density of styrafoam make it less profitable to recycle.
Well no, it pretty much lasts forever, much like syrofoam. You can recycle syrofoam. Once it's clean, you can just melt it down and press it into another mold. The process for plastic is'nt much different. Once they throw out all the contaminated(bottles used for chemicals/wrong color) they shred the plastic or turn it into pellets, then they go off to whatever factory needed some recycled plastic. Actually, styrofoam makes for a really good building material. They use it for all sorts of roofing an insulation. Of course, that does'nt make it right, but still.
^^actually, no. There are different types of plastics that make different types of bottles. They don't just shred up all the plastic and ship it off. Polystyrene, while still a plastic, cannot be made into bottles such (it can be made into a dense plastic, but they normally don't bother), hence why they don't take it.
So all we need is to have aircraft carriers spray acetone over the earth's landfills? =) I'm guessing that would be bad for the ecosytem however... Do people even recycle styrafoam? I know my local recycling center does not take it...just paper, plastic, and aluminum.
I've heard of styrofoam being recycled in some places, but it is not profitable, so it's obviously not a practice that will become widespread.
Expanded polystyrene foam (Styrofoam) is recylable, but it must be broken down with acetone and then remolded. The cost of this is more than manufacturing it from raw polystyrene, so the chances of this being available widely is slim. I think some of the best ways to deal with it are programs to reuse it. Companies are coming up with ways to use ground up styrofoam for variety of uses like filtration devices for erosion control and insulation. What I hate most about styrofoam is HOW it degrades. Unlike platics which can be removed from the environment easily, styrofoam tends to break apart into thousands of little balls which are virtually impossible to remove. I work with a crew that adopted a stretch of highway near the Wyoming border and nothing pisses me off more than going to pick up a McDonalds coffee cup and feeling it disintegrate into a million little balls that I could never pick up. PS: On other websites my handle is StyrofoamSux
PS: Take a STAND too! If you eat meat, NEVER buy meat packaged in plastic and styrofoam. You can easily find a grocer or butcher who simply wraps meat in paper the good old fashioned way. Buy canned sodas (and then recylce them) and avoid the fountain... unless they use wax covered paper cups. If they tell you you are wasting your money, use the opportunity to share your position.
