Polystyrene Boxes for Food
Concerns
over the use of PS should best be analysed based on facts rather than on
perception .
The fact
that advanced countries like Japan , US and The EU continue to allow the use of
PS as a food packaging material speaks volume about its safety .
Basically there are 2 forms of PS foam
·
Extruded polystyrene [ foam plates , egg cartons and other food food service applications ]
·
Expanded polysterene [ coffee
cups , packaging of delicate E & E appliances
, consumer products ]
Both
types are also used as thermal insulation in Industrial , commercial and
residential construction.
[i]What is EPS?
EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) or as many know by The Dow Chemical Company's
trade marked name, STYROFOAM,
is an extremely lightweight product that is made of expanded polystyrene beads.
Originally discovered by Eduard Simon in 1839 in Germany by accident, EPS foam
is more than 95% air and only about 5% plastic.
Small solid plastic particles of polystyrene are made from the monomer
styrene. Polystyrene is normally a solid thermoplastic at room temperature that can be melted at
higher temperature and re-solidified for desired applications. The expanded
version of polystyrene is about forty times the volume of the original
polystyrene granule.
Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is a
versatile, lightweight material that can be manufactured into a variety of
products. EPS offers a high-performance
yet economical support for a wide variety of items—from sensitive
electronics to appliances to pharmaceuticals—to be safely delivered to market.
Manufacturers rely on EPS packaging because of its ability to prevent or minimize product damage during
transit and its excellent insulation properties required for food and
medical shipments.
Yet
EPS packaging, just like any disposable packaging, will eventually become a solid waste and have to be managed. But here’s the good news: EPS
is recyclable. Although the availability of polystyrene recycling programs
varies by community and can be limited, the EPS industry uses average of 50
percent of the post consumer material collected in the manufacture of new EPS
transport packaging and loose fill packaging, which has reduced requirements
for raw material resources, energy consumption has diverted material from landfills.