Polystyrene alternatives: Should you be using them?

Polystyrene packaging can be solid or foam (expanded). Solid polystyrene packaging includes DVD and CD cases. Expanded polystyrene (EPS) or Styrofoam packaging is commonly used as inserts or void fill to protect items during shipping. Its use is also everyday for food packaging trays.

However, when most people refer to polystyrene packaging, they usually mean expanded polystyrene (EPS) or extruded polystyrene (XPS).

Without getting too technical, polystyrene is manufactured by polymerising styrene, a building-block chemical used to make many products. In its expanded form, suppliers shape or fabricate it using injection moulding processes. This material can be as much as 95% air.

Many businesses frequently use it to protect items during transit, such as TVs, consumer electronics, homewares, and flat-pack furniture.

It is also commonly used to create “loose fill” packaging, such as packing peanuts or packing noodles. It was previously popular for single-use food containers as well. However, many countries/cities, including New York, have banned the use of material for food and single-use applications.

One of the main alternatives to polystyrene is other polymer-based foam packaging. Packaging manufacturers use materials such as Stratocell and Ethafoam to create end caps, pads, blocks, trays, and custom-designed items.

Foam packaging inserts usually provide much higher levels of protection than expanded polystyrene. They are effective across multiple drops, impacts, or mishandling incidents. This performance helps to protect items during transit, in turn minimising the amount of (damaged) goods returned and sent to landfill.

Their properties also allow for the use of much less material than polystyrene and for being considerably less bulky. The result is smaller outer containers, improved transport efficiency, and reduced CO2 emissions.

This benefit means that foam packaging, such as Stratocell and Ethafoam, has a considerably lower environmental impact than polystyrene.

However, these foams, whilst recyclable, suffer from some of the same problems as polystyrene. Most significantly, they are not collected in kerbside schemes and require specialist recycling facilities.

Using recycled foam can reduce a business’s environmental impact.

Materials such as Stratocell R (recycled) and Ethafoam HRC (high-recycled-content) contain at least 65% recycled plastics. The recycled content does not affect their structure or performance compared with standard foam end caps and packaging, and they can be recycled again at the end of their useful life.

All the benefits of standard foams, therefore, still apply, including minimal material use. They are also not subject to the UK Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT) introduced in April 2022.

However, they also share the same drawbacks, including the difficulty of recycling.

There are now several foams available that are manufactured using natural materials. One of these, Fibrease, is created using cellulose fibres from trees.

This wood foam packaging can provide performance similar to some polymer-based foams, but with the added benefit of being considerably easier to recycle. Consumers can place both the wood foam and the outer cardboard packaging into the kerbside collection for paper.

Korrvu is a type of packaging that, whilst not eliminating plastics, certainly reduces it.

The system works by suspending or retaining the items between two sheets of thin plastic within the outer packaging. The design prevents damage caused by items colliding with the walls of the outer container or with one another.

When the package arrives at the consumer’s home, they can place the entire insert (film and paper elements) in kerbside paper collections. The recycling process similarly separates the plastic component from plastic tape affixed to cardboard boxes.

The other benefit of this form of packaging is that it will again reduce the overall volume of the outer packaging, particularly when compared with polystyrene, which can help improve transit efficiency and emissions. It is also more flexible in the types and sizes of products it can accommodate (with foam end caps being tailored to a single or limited range of items).

The success of the Blue Planet series led many businesses to explore ways to significantly reduce, or even eliminate, plastics from their packaging. One way many sought to do this was to move to biodegradable materials.

As a result, a specialist cardboard foam alternative – Corrispring – was developed.

Corrispring is effectively a concertina of corrugated cardboard that acts to absorb shock during mishandling, and whilst the performance levels are less than foam packaging, they can be suitable for various applications. The other downside is the increased bulk of the packs that use them, meaning less efficient use of space during transit.

The key benefit of Corrispring, however, is that the material used in its manufacture is not only biodegradable but also fully and widely recycled (including in kerbside recycling boxes).

Another option similar to Corrispring is the use of cardboard fittings.

With a lot of transit damage caused by the movement of items within the container, fixing contents within a fitting can significantly minimise instances of this type of damage. This approach is similar to that of Korrvu packaging.

The main advantage, when compared with Korrvu, is that the fittings are entirely made from cardboard, allowing the whole pack to be quickly and easily recycled. The main drawback, however, is that, as the insert is tailored to a specific product, packing staff require a different fitting for each item.

However, for high-volume, single-trip requirements, they can be highly cost-effective and help reduce environmental impact.

Many overlook the use of polystyrene for void fill. Often referred to as packing peanuts, noodles, or simple loose fill, expanded polystyrene of this nature is not only bad for the environment but also a nightmare for consumers to dispose of.

An alternative to simply filling excess space within an outer carton is to use paper void fill.

Whilst this provides only moderate transit protection, it does prevent items from moving around and colliding with each other during normal handling operations, making it a suitable option for most standard applications (e.g., if the contents are not particularly valuable, delicate or are already in primary packaging).

It is also readily recycled in standard kerbside recycling.

If you are, then now is probably the time to make the switch.

As detailed above, there is now a range of much more environmentally friendly polystyrene alternatives, with an option to suit most applications, products, and budgets.

If you require advice on the best solution for your business moving forward or would like a quote on eco-friendly alternative packaging, please speak with one of our packaging experts.