Environmental Impact
What EPS (Styrenfoam) does to our environment, and what to do about it
What is EPS?
EPS stands for expanded polystyrene, or as we know it.... “Styrenfoam”
“Styrenfoam” is popularly used as a cheap and disposable cold-chain shipping insulator.
EPS does not decompose, but instead “photodegrades,” breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces that continue to pervasively accumulate in marine environments.
EPS can only be recycled when it is “clean” and uncontaminated by food (which is extremely rare), and even then manufacturers lose money when they recycle EPS, meaning it rarely gets done.
What EPS does to the Environment
Because polystyrene (Styrenfoam) is so difficult to properly dispose of or recycle, it ends up in our environment where it releases carcinogenic styrene into virtually all living creatures. Some of these plastic-feeding animals make it all the way to our tables!
When exposed to sunlight, Styrenfoam creates harmful air pollutants which contaminate landfills and deplete the ozone layer.
In 2014 styrene, a key component of EPS, was listed as a possible carcinogen.
Because Styrenfoam products break apart so easily, animals either confuse it as food and ingest its toxic chemicals or they suffer from it as a choking hazard.
How do Our Materials Reduce our Footprint?
- Our products are made with renewable raw and post-consumer materials
- All of our materials match or outperform EPS, but without the harmful effects on our environment/wildlife
- All materials meet compostable and curbside recyclability standards
- Our insulation material is non-toxic, starch-based and water soluble (meaning if you run it under water, it will disappear!)
- Our materials meet US ASTM D6400 and European specification EN 13432, which require non-harmful degradation in 180 days or less
- All our materials support corporate zero waste and sustainability goals
Just how bad is the problem?
years is how long experts estimate it takes styrenfoam to decompose
or more of landfill composition (by volume) is styrenfoam
Million tons of polystyrene are improperly recycled every year in the U.S alone
of total polystyrene was recycled in the US in 2015
Billion Styrenfoam coffee cups are thrown away every year by Americans alone