Styrofoam Containers Are Being Made Into A Valuable Seaweed Chemical Via Sunlight

Conserve Energy Future

Styrofoam, or polystyrene, has been a controversial product for years due to its adverse effects on the environment. Aside from the fact that it takes over 500 years to decompose, during this process, it also releases harmful chemicals into the environment.

But recently, polystyrene has actually been turned into a valuable chemical that’s found in seaweed by simply exposing it to sunlight.


When Styrofoam is broken down, it creates DPM or diphenylmethane, which is a molecule in the aquatic plant that is often used in polymer manufacturing, drug development, and even in cosmetics and fragrances. Moreover, it is considered an indestructible plastic that’s found in almost everything, such as takeaway containers to TV packaging.

Moreover, Styrofoam isn’t recycled too often due to the fact that it’s an incredibly complex and costly process. And there is also difficulty that comes from collecting the discarded Styrofoam as well.

But scientists have managed to break it down recently, using an inexpensive and simple technique using a chemical catalyst and UV or ultraviolet rays.

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Since the market price of DPM is 10 times higher than other materials that are currently manufactured using polystyrene, the market incentive is also included in the process. In addition, other valuable chemicals that are produced aside from DPM include benzophenone, which is used as a clear coating in the film and printing industry, as well as 4-oxo-4 phenyl-butyric acid.

Lead author of the paper, Professor Greg Liu of Virginia Tech, explains, “Many municipal recycling facilities instruct residents not to put polystyrene in their home recycling bins. Currently, the main method for recycling polystyrene yields a product that is often too low-quality to make the process economically viable.”

He adds, “In other words, if a recycling plant tries to recycle polystyrene on a large scale, it will either need a financial boost, such as a government subsidy, or the operation risks running out of money and shutting down.”

The study, which the VA Tech team published in PNAS, demonstrated the technology, including economic viability findings they made by consulting business experts from both Dongbei University in China, and Santa Clara University in California.


According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 1.15 billion polystyrene food and drink containers were sold in England back in 2019. But unlike most plastics – especially those biodegradable ones produced these days – they can remain intact for more than 1,000 years, while their presence in the environment has been associated with a number of diseases, including some cancers.

Notably, when they are exposed to UV light, they actually weaken. The researchers demonstrated how sunlight degrades polystyrene chemically. However, while this highlights the possibility of recycling methods, it may also cause a different sort of damage when it comes to the oceans since it can break apart into microplastics, which is already a huge global issue.

In fact, Scotland has even banned the sales of single-use polystyrene food containers for this particular reason.

Professor Liu says, “Many of us are comfortable tossing a metal can or a glass jar into the recycling bin without a second thought. Not every recycling plant is equipped to handle every type of plastic. That’s because the chemistry and structure of plastic materials are diverse, and each type requires a specific recycling procedure.”

“We at Virginia Tech can contribute a small piece to the big puzzle and offer solutions to positively impact the world,” he adds.

 

 

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