Polystyrene (EPS, styrofoam) is an excellent packaging material due to its insulating and protective properties. Unfortunately, once goods are delivered and opened polystyrene then becomes a waste material that companies must pay to dispose of. Large, bulky pieces of polystyrene can take up significant space in a waste skip which means the skip becomes full more quickly and therefore needs to be emptied more often – therefore more cost.
The disposal of polystyrene waste is a major problem for many sectors of industry because the volume to weight ratio of the material is unfavourable for economic transportation after use. In many applications polystyrene is the best packaging material to use as it can reduce the risk of damage to expensive electronic items and can preserve and protect food such as fish far better than many alternative packaging materials. Despite the suitability of polystyrene for a wide variety of applications, organisations are faced with the growing problem of finding alternative methods of disposing of large volumes of waste packaging. Disposing of Polystyrene has the following drawbacks:
- Boxes and packaging can take up large volumes of storage space prior to removal.
- Fish/Meat packaging is contaminated with blood, fluids etc and so can be a health hazard and attract vermin when in storage prior to removal.
- Skip hire or running costs of disposal trucks are very high.
- Because boxes and packaging take up a lot of space transport lorries or skips are filled very quickly.
- High landfill charges make disposal expensive and bad for the environment