Is using foam packaging bad for the environment?

It has been more than five years since New York joined 70 cities worldwide in banning the manufacturing, processing, and selling of Expanded Polystyrene Foam (EPS) and Polystyrene loose-fill packaging.

The foam packaging ban, designed primarily to force food service suppliers to use recyclable materials, meant that many everyday items, such as takeaway cups and plates, could no longer be made from EPS.

The introduction of the ban aimed to help New York City in its bid to become a greener city and reduce the amount of waste going to landfills.

However, this guide looks at a different form of foam packaging – that used for end caps, lined boxes and other forms of transit protection.

So, what is meant by foam packaging?

Most modern foam materials use polyethylene in their manufacture, including market-leading options such as Stratocell, Ethafoam and Plastazote.

Although manufactured in different ways, the result is a closed-cell foam that provides excellent levels of protection. One key advantage, for example, is that foams of this type effectively protect their contents over multiple drops or impacts. This behaviour makes it much more effective than Polystyrene, which protects on the first impact only.

Besides this, it is relatively easy to fabricate foam packaging to create a range of packaging inserts and options.

Unlike EPS, which tends to be moulded, foam packaging can be easily cut, shaped, and glued to form varying designs, often providing a tailored level of protection.

The burning question remains, however – is foam packaging bad for the environment?

It is an inescapable fact that the vast majority of foams are polymer-based (plastic).

Being produced from polyethylene, the material is petroleum/fossil fuel-based. As such, it plays a small part in the environmental impact caused by the extraction and refining of oil-based products.

However, this is slowly beginning to change, with several wood foam packaging materials (such as Fibrease) becoming commercially available.

Another issue with plastic-based foams is that they are non-biodegradable.

Whilst this is not an issue on its own (a robust recycling programme would mitigate it), it does mean that any foam packaging that makes its way into landfill will remain there for many hundreds of years. There is also the obvious concern of generating plastic microparticles as the material breaks down.

The fact foam is not biodegradable is compounded by recycling not currently being easy for consumers.

It involves going to a specialist recycling centre or facility instead of simply placing it in kerbside recycling. This additional effort means that a certain proportion of consumers will put any foam packaging they receive straight into their waste bins (which ultimately go to landfill).

Another key argument against foam packaging is that there are several other alternatives now available.

These include paper and cardboard-based options, such as void fill and corrugated cardboard fittings, which are much more easily recycled and completely biodegradable.

Other options include Corrispring (a cardboard mechanism for replicating the “cushioning” provided by foam) and Korrvu, which uses a plastic film to retain or suspend items within the outer pack. Whilst this uses some plastic, the amount is considerably reduced.

These options are, of course, in addition to the range of bio-based foams (such as wood foam) that are becoming available.

The short answer is that it depends!

For many applications, the costs, both monetary and environmental, of goods becoming damaged in transit far outweigh the impacts of using well-optimised, material-efficient foam packaging.

It is also essential to look at the bigger picture.

Whilst it may be possible to switch to an alternative material for your void fill or cushioning requirements, many of these alternatives result in larger pack sizes, less efficient transit, and more emissions overall.

And, with the range of recycled foams fast improving, there are sustainable foam options that you should seriously consider.

However, for lower-value or more robust goods (i.e. that do not need such specialist levels of protection), switching to corrugated cardboard dividers, inserts, and fittings is now a viable option.

Foam packaging can be bad. Besides polluting the ocean and natural environments, it can break down to create microplastics. It also uses finite, fossil-based resources. However, it can be essential in protecting products during transit, is often reusable, and can minimise CO2 emissions through more efficient shipping. As such, foam packaging is often the most suitable material for specific applications.

In the right circumstances foam packaging, rather than being bad for the environment, can actually be more sustainable than some of the alternatives.

However, careful consideration must be given to the application, intended use, product, and many other factors to ascertain whether foam packaging is suitable for your business.

As suppliers of all types of foams and their alternatives, our team of experts at GWP look beyond the simple question of “Is foam packaging bad?” but instead recommend the most sustainable and commercially viable option for your specific application.

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Polystyrene alternatives: should you be using them?

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