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Want to save the earth? Let's ban Styrofoam!

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K1052

Elite Member
Aug 21, 2003
52,436
45,917
136
I'd support this if only to eventually end the use of styrofoam peanuts. I really hate them.
 

Nintendesert

Diamond Member
Mar 28, 2010
7,761
5
0
Wait. Some people here say it can be recycled, some say it can't. So is everyone here just full of bullshit?
 

nageov3t

Lifer
Feb 18, 2004
42,808
83
91
and, you know, also because it would save the city millions.

Officials at City Hall said a plastic-foam ban could save millions of dollars a year. Plastic foam, which is not biodegradable, can add up to $20 per ton in recycling costs when the city processes recyclable materials. The city handles about 1.2 million tons of food waste each year; the mayor’s office estimated that the city’s annual waste stream included about 20,000 tons of plastic foam.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/14/nyregion/next-bloomberg-target-plastic-foam-cups.html
 

Dr. Zaus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2008
11,764
347
126

<TFA>The truth is most forms of Styrofoam are recyclable, yes surprisingly it is. The problem is there aren’t many facilities that accept this material for recycling. For recycling to be cost effective and feasible you need a large amount of material. Recycling is measured and valued by the ton. Styrofoam is so light and bulky that this makes it difficult for facilities to manage Styrofoam.</TFA>
 

Hayabusa Rider

Admin Emeritus & Elite Member
Jan 26, 2000
50,879
4,268
126
Easy fix. Only allow 7 cups per package unless they are retired LEO. Everyone else is an instant felon.
 

OverVolt

Lifer
Aug 31, 2002
14,278
89
91
We said NY wouldn't stop over-regulating and we were right.

If they fired half the bureaucrats it would also save the city millions. :awe:
 

ShawnD1

Lifer
May 24, 2003
15,987
2
81
That's arguably the dumbest article I have ever seen. Title:
"NY Mayor Bloomberg will BAN Styrofoam containers because it's almost impossible to recycle"

My first job was at a place that made plastic containers for the first stage of growing plants. They're almost like muffin trays. Some of the containers were polypropylene and some were polystyrene (the same material as Styrofoam). The containers were made by starting with flat sheets of plastic, heating them, and pressing them into a mold. My job was to cut the plastic scraps into smaller pieces using a band saw then feed them into the shredder. The shredded polystyrene could then be melted down to form new plastic sheets, and the process starts over again. This is the very definition of recycling polystyrene, and now some fucker thinks the job I did is nearly impossible? It was such a simple job that it paid close to minimum wage.
Note that polystyrene and Styrofoam are not the same thing. Polystyrene is fairly heavy and has a density of 1.06 (water has a density of 1). Styrofoam is mostly air, so the density of Styrofoam is more like 0.1.

I think they should ban farting in public.
Farting in elevators should be punishable by death. I'm not even joking.

here in san francisco and in a neighboring county theyve banned plastic bags, so if you go into a store like walmart or the grocery you now have to carry all your crap to your car in your hands.
So they haven't figured out how to make bags from paper? Stay classy, California.

But what will they ship my 80" TV in?
Paper? I ran a bunch of paper through a paper shredder and used the shredded paper as packing material for my glassware when I moved. A lot of it was simple recycling. My parents had a giant stack of junk mail, so I used that. Trees are pretty awesome. You can do so many things with them. Roughly shredded plastic would work too. Basically anything that allows giant gaps of air works great as packing material. Some people use popcorn as packing material.

Wait. Some people here say it can be recycled, some say it can't. So is everyone here just full of bullshit?
You need to understand that at lest 50% of people are retarded, and maybe another 20% on top of that are drug addicts. Plastic and metal are very easy to recycle because they are simply melted down and formed into something new. The melting point of polystyrene is 240C according to google, which is 465F give or take. Put some styrofoam in a glass dish then heat it up to 500 in your oven. You'll see that it melts down. From there it can be molded into something new such as a toy then painted to mask the color of what it originally was.
 
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Gintaras

Golden Member
Dec 28, 2000
1,892
1
71
Styrofoam kept your drink or food cold/warm at least. It also doesn't leak after an hour.

It's also recyclable, but few seem to bother recycling it.

You think, that you won't be recyclable if your coffin would be made out of Styrofoam? "keeps you warm or cold...?
 

Toastedlightly

Diamond Member
Aug 7, 2004
7,214
6
81
I can get behind banning the use of styrofoam in single use applications (e.g. to-go boxes), but I can't get behind eliminating styrofoam in long term use applications. Current biodegradable plastics don't have the durability of styrofoam.