1. EPS (expanded polystyrene) foam is a synthetic, petroleum-based material that contains 98 percent air.
2. Within the EPS manufacturing process, individual beads of polystyrene are heated by steam and expanded to 40 times their original size.
3. Approximately 75 percent of the EPS produced in Europe is used in the building sector, the majority of it as insulation in the walls, floors, and roofing systems of residential and commercial construction.
4. The iconic 20-acre landscape in Maggie Daley Park in downtown Chicago was constructed on top of approximately 65,000 cubic yards of EPS Geofoam.
5. The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers established the minimum insulation requirement for commercial buildings at R-20. That means a minimum of 4.75 inches of expanded polystyrene is required in any new commercial construction.
6. Around 22 million EPS fish boxes are used every year to transport the UK’s wild-caught and farmed fish to restaurants and supermarkets.
7. More than 14 million tons of EPS are produced each year globally, including 3 million tons in the United States.
8. The global EPS market was valued at 10.4 billion US dollars in 2022 and is projected to reach a value of 18.7 billion US dollars by 2030, at a compound annual growth rate of 8.8 percent.
9. EPS is non-biodegradable and resistant to photolysis. It requires at least 500 years to decompose and is quickly becoming a permanent part of our geological record.
10. Americans throw away an estimated 25 billion polystyrene coffee cups every year, or about 82 cups per person.
11. A study of beach debris at 43 sites along the Orange County coast in California found that Styrofoam was the second most abundant form of beach debris.
12. Styrene residue is found in 100 percent of all samples of human fat tissue.
13. In 1977, the Dow Chemical company evaluated the toxicity of burning polystyrene. Seven male Sprague-Dewey rats were exposed to the emissions from burning a sample of polystyrene in a closed environment. All seven rats died from this exposure within 30 minutes.
14. A study from 2015 at Stanford University found that a species of plastic-eating mealworm can subsist on a sole diet of EPS foam over a period of one month. After being ingested, the EPS fragments were broken down in the larval gut in under 24 hours.
15. EPS falls under the plastic resin identification code 6. It can be recycled as many as 20 times while still retaining all its physical properties.
16. According to a study by the California Integrated Waste Management Board, of the 377,580 tons of EPS produced in the state in 2004, only 0.8 percent was recycled.
17. During the recycling process, discarded EPS fragments are shredded and compacted into dense blocks through a 40 to 1 compression ratio to make them easier to transport and store.
18. One pallet of densified EPS scrap Wcontains roughly the same amount of material as a 40-foot shipping container full of uncompressed EPS foam.
19. The current market rate for EPS scrap is 30 cents per pound. The recycling cost for EPS foam is approximately 1.5 dollars per pound, making it a loss-making proposition for many plastic recyclers.
20. By volume, EPS contributes up to 30 percent of landfill space globally. In the United States alone, approximately 1,370 tons of EPS is buried in landfills every day, where it occupies more space than any other category of waste.
Ang Li is an architect and Assistant Professor in the College of Arts, Media, and Design at Northeastern University. Her work explores the maintenance practices and material afterlives behind architectural production through site-specific installations and temporary building experiments. Ang has participated in exhibitions at the Lisbon Architecture Triennale,the Echo Art Fairin Buffalo, NY, and the Carnegie Museum of Art, among others.
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