Before 1988, there was essentially no recovery of post-consumer polystyrene for recycling, but as of 1999, just eleven years later, more than 345 million pounds of polystyrene packaging were recycled. Derived primarily from oil and natural gas, polystyrene produces significant amounts of heat energy when burned, helping to more completely burn other waste. When polystyrene is burned in today's modern incinerator, the thermal decomposition products are carbon dioxide, water vapors and a trace amount of non-toxic ash. Because it is derived from petrochemicals, polystyrene releases most of its energy as heat, and the resulting ash represents a material reduction of more than 99 percent by volume. Landfilling While recycling and reuse continue to grow in popularity, most of the waste in this country still goes to landfills.
People assume the waste inside a landfill biodegrades.
Polystyrene is effectively and safely disposed of in landfills. Modern landfills are designed to protect the environment from the liquids and gases produced during the very slow breakdown by reducing the exposure of garbage to air, water and sunlight - conditions needed for degradation. Therefore, by design, modern landfills greatly retard the degradation process to reduce the by-products that might otherwise contaminate groundwater and the air. The polystyrene industry cares about the environment. A widely held misconception is that litter is a problem caused by specific materials themselves rather than aberrant consumer behavior.