The quick answer: Mostly no. Polystyrene is made from oil and gas, it doesn't biodegrade, foam versions break up and spread easily, and recycling it is patchy in Australia. It does have a few genuine uses, mainly insulation and protective packaging. Whether it does harm comes down to how long it's used and where it ends up.
Polystyrene turns up everywhere, from appliance packaging and takeaway cups to insulation boards and the beans in a bean bag. It's also one of the plastics people get most worked up about, and fair enough. This post looks at polystyrene as a material in general. If you're asking specifically about bean bag beans, read is bean bag filling environmentally friendly? instead.
What is polystyrene?
Polystyrene is a plastic made from styrene, which comes from oil and gas. You'll come across it in a few forms:
- Solid polystyrene: hard plastic, like old CD cases and some food containers.
- Expanded polystyrene (EPS): the white foam made of small puffed-up beads. It's used in packaging, eskies and bean bags.
- Extruded polystyrene (XPS): a denser foam board used in building insulation.
- High-impact polystyrene (HIPS): a tougher version used in some packaging and products.
They don't all behave the same. The foams are the ones that cause most of the trouble at the end of their life.
What makes something environmentally friendly?
A material gets called "eco" because of one thing it does well, like being light, while the rest gets ignored. A better test looks at the whole life:
- what it's made from
- how much energy and what emissions go into making it
- how long it's used for, and what it saves along the way
- what happens when you're done with it
Polystyrene does well on weight. It does badly on that last point.
The problems with polystyrene
It doesn't go away
Polystyrene doesn't biodegrade like paper or food scraps. It breaks into smaller and smaller bits, and wildlife can mistake those bits for food. Once they're spread around, you can't really clean them up. Foam is the worst for this because it's light and brittle.
Foam ends up as litter
Foam blows out of bins and off trucks, and once it's in a creek or on a beach it spreads fast. That's why councils and state bans have gone after foam food containers and loose packing peanuts first.
Recycling is hit and miss
Polystyrene can be recycled, but that doesn't mean it will be. Councils generally don't take it in kerbside recycling bins. It's bulky and costs a lot to transport, and food-soiled foam is usually rejected. Some council drop-offs take clean EPS packaging, but many of them won't take loose beads. Wollongong, Lake Macquarie and Surf Coast councils all specifically exclude bean bag beads.
It's a fossil fuel product
Like most plastics, it starts with oil and gas. That doesn't make it the worst material going, but the impact of making it is real. Using less single-use polystyrene is the main thing that helps.
Where it makes sense
There are reasons polystyrene got so popular, and in a few places it does reduce other kinds of waste.
Packaging that stops breakages
When a fridge or TV turns up broken, it gets sent back and replaced. That means more manufacturing, more freight and more packaging. Good protective packaging cuts those breakages down.
Insulation
Over its life, polystyrene insulation in a building can save far more energy than it took to make. It's still a problem when the building comes down, but it shows why banning every use outright isn't always the best result.
Can you recycle polystyrene in Australia?
It depends on your council and what kind of polystyrene you've got.
- Clean EPS packaging blocks are taken by some council drop-offs and specialist recyclers.
- Rigid polystyrene is sometimes accepted with mixed hard plastics.
- Food-soiled foam is rarely accepted.
- Loose beads, including bean bag beans, are often refused.
Look up your council's waste guide, or search "polystyrene recycling" with your suburb. Wherever it's accepted, it'll need to be clean and dry with no tape on it. For bean bag filling, these will help:
What about "biodegradable" polystyrene?
You'll see foam packaging labelled "biodegradable" or "made with plant-based additives". Some of it is a genuine improvement, and some of it is marketing. Before you believe a claim, ask a few questions:
- What does it need to break down? Commercial composting? High heat?
- Is there anywhere near you that will actually take it?
- Does it really break down, or just crumble into smaller pieces?
If something really is compostable, the company selling it should be able to tell you how and where.
Polystyrene or paper?
It's not as simple as paper good, plastic bad. Paper is renewable and easy to recycle, but making it takes a lot of resources. It also often needs a plastic coating to cope with grease and moisture, which makes it harder to recycle.
Polystyrene protects and insulates using very little material. It's still made from fossil fuels, and it's a problem at the end. As a rough rule:
- If it's single use and likely to end up as litter, foam polystyrene is a poor choice.
- If it's something you'll use for years, how long it lasts matters more than what it's made of.
Is polystyrene safe at home?
For most households the question isn't sitting near polystyrene. It's heating it, especially food containers, and getting rid of it properly. If you want the health side, we've covered it in is polystyrene toxic?
How to reduce the impact
Reuse it
Clean foam packaging is handy for storage, packing for a move or keeping things apart in the garage. Every time you reuse it, that's less going to landfill.
Keep it contained
Bag foam packaging as soon as it comes out of the box, before it starts breaking up. Keep loose fill in a sealed bag until you can reuse it or find somewhere that takes it.
Keep it clean
Food-soiled foam is close to impossible to recycle. Unless your council specifically takes it, it doesn't go in the recycling.
Buy things that last
For furniture and anything else you'll keep, how long it lasts usually matters more than what it's made of. If something lasts years longer, it'll often do better than a "greener" option you replace twice as often. That goes for a bean bag chair as much as a sofa.
Look after bean bag filling
If you've got a bean bag, the most useful things you can do are keep your beans when you change the cover, keep them in an inner liner, and never refill outside. There's more in is bean bag filling environmentally friendly? and what alternative bean bag fillers are there? If yours lives outside or by the pool, an outdoor bean bag or pool bean bag built for it will last a lot longer than an indoor one left out in the weather.
Common myths
"It's mostly air, so it's fine."
EPS is mostly air, and that does make it light to move around. But weight was never the issue. The issue is that it hangs around, breaks up and is hard to recycle.
"It's got a recycling symbol, so it gets recycled."
The symbol only tells you what kind of plastic it is. It doesn't mean your council can process it.
"Just ban it."
Swapping materials fixes some problems and creates others. What helps most is using less single-use polystyrene, recovering more of it, and buying things that last.
Frequently asked questions
Is polystyrene biodegradable?
No. It breaks into smaller pieces over time but doesn't biodegrade, which is a big part of the problem.
Is polystyrene recyclable?
Technically yes. In practice it depends on where you live, whether it's clean, and whether it's foam or hard plastic. It doesn't go in your kerbside recycling bin.
Is EPS worse than other plastics?
It's not more toxic, but it breaks up and spreads more easily than most plastics, which makes it a bigger litter problem.
What should I do with foam packaging?
Bag it up, reuse it if you can, and check whether your council takes it. If there's nowhere local, it goes in general waste, sealed in a bag so it doesn't blow away.
So, is polystyrene environmentally friendly?
Not in the way most people mean it, especially as foam and especially when it's single use. It doesn't go away, it breaks up, and recycling it is patchy. It still has a place in insulation and protective packaging, and in things you'll use for years. Use less of it, reuse what you've got, keep it contained and dispose of it properly when you're done.
