Apr 13, 2017

Although it’s found in many places, a lot of people may not be familiar with the term ‘expanded polystyrene’. It’s the white foam used to make disposable coffee cups, meat trays in groceries, ice boxes, and packaging for appliances. They’re often mistakenly called Styrofoam. Even though expanded polystyrene is a light material, its products take up a lot of space in landfills. They also do not biodegrade easily, and can last for many, many years. This is why Metro Vancouver is looking at the idea of a disposal ban on expanded polystyrene products. Not all items may be covered as it would be difficult for inspectors to spot coffee cups and similar things in piles of garbage. According to Andrew Marr, director of solid waste planning at Metro Vancouver, the district may only go after the big ones, which are packaging for appliances. “If you can imagine when they’re building a highrise, and in one week, they might bring in all the refrigerators and dishwashers, and so all the expanded polystyrene from 500 refrigerators get to be thrown all at once,” Marr told the Straight in a phone interview. According to Marr, a disposal ban will encourage people in the Lower Mainland to be mindful of how they deal with these packaging materials. “The reason we’re trying to bring in disposal bans is to encourage the recycling of a material,” the Metro Vancouver executive said. For residents, they can drop off expanded polystyrene packaging at recycling depots. For business with a lot of this kind of material, they can pay companies like the Coquitlam-based Foam Only to recycle the product.

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