Green Care

M-301 (8/2011) ©2011 Dart Container Corporation
Notes
1
The Polystyrene Packaging Council, Polystyrene And Its Raw Material, Styrene: Manufacture and Use,
November 1993, p. 1.
2
William L. Rathje, “Rubbish!” The Atlantic Monthly, December 1989, p. 103.
3
William Rathje and Cullen Murphy, “Five Major Myths About Garbage, and Why They’re Wrong,”
Smithsonian, July 1992, p. 5.
4
Franklin Associates, a Division of ERG, Life Cycle Inventory of Foam Polystyrene, Paper-Based, and
PLA Foodservice Products, February 2011, Table 2-2 Total Column. See also: Franklin Associates, Ltd., Final
Peer-Reviewed Report: Life Cycle Inventory of Polystyrene Foam, Bleached Paperboard, and Corrugated
Paperboard Foodservice Products (Prepared for The Polystyrene Packaging Council, March 2006), Table 2-2,
p. 2-7.
5
Ibid, Table 2-3 Total Column. See also: Ibid, Table 2-3, p. 2-8.
6
Ibid, Tables 2-2, 2-15, 2-19 Total Column. See also: Ibid, pp. 2-7, 2-23, 2-43, 2-60.
7
Judd H. Alexander, In Defense of Garbage (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1993) p. 55.
8
The rate of recovery for recycling of polystyrene disposables and protective packaging more than
doubled from 1989 to 1994. Since 1994, outlets for recycling polystyrene foam have declined for a number
of reasons, including poor economics and an increasing awareness by many consumers that other methods of
solid waste management exist. For example, foam loosefill packing material may be reused and polystyrene
and other plastic products can be easily and safely incinerated. Franklin Associates, Ltd., Waste Management
and Reduction Trends in the Polystyrene Industry, 1974–1994, June 1996, pp. 17–18; Updated August 1999.
9
The Polystyrene Packaging Council, Polystyrene and Its Raw Material, Styrene: Manufacture and Use,
November 1993, pp. 27–28.
10
In past years, waste-to-energy has been viewed negatively by persons concerned about the
environmental effects of incinerations. As technology has improved, however, modern incinerators have
become a safe and effective method of handling many post-consumer materials. According to Franklin
Associates, Ltd., a leading solid waste consulting firm, “At some point after 2000, the use of finite resources,
e.g. fossil fuels, may lead to a more welcoming climate for expansion of waste-to-energy as an alternative
solid waste management technique.” Franklin Associates, Ltd., Solid Waste Management at the Crossroads,
December 1997, p. 1-24.
11
Moreover, according to a 1998 report by Franklin Associates, Ltd., polystyrene and other plastic
products do not comprise the largest volume of material within the waste stream. Indeed, the report concludes
that paper and yard trimmings together constitute about 51.6 percent of generation. Thus, while it may be
preferable to divert all materials from landfills whenever possible, polystyrene foam does not present the
paramount problem for municipal solid waste or, for that matter, landfill capacity. In fact, when polystyrene
foam products are buried in landfills, they are as stable and harmless as rocks, concrete, and other inert
materials. William Rathje and Cullen Murphy, “Five Major Myths About Garbage, and Why They’re Wrong,”
Smithsonian, July 1992, p. 3. See also: Franklin Associates, Ltd., Waste Management and Reduction Trends in
the Polystyrene Industry, 1974–1994, June 1996, p. 7; Updated August 1999; and Municipal Solid Waste in the
United States, 2009 Facts and Figures. United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Solid Waste,
December, 2010.