450 Years in a landfill!...

That is right. The use of Foam Core for advertising and signs is extremely effective, so effective that those advertisements and signs will still be around 450 years from now. On the plus side it will let future generations know about our current products;imagine 400 years from now, someone digging and finding an advertisement for an iPad? the thought is actually funny if you think about technology, but not so funny if we think about environmental impact.

Of course Foam Core manufacturers state that the material is recyclable, which is true if we were to implement comprehensive recycling programs that included pick up and delivery from the point of disposal to the point of recycling. Recycling Foam core or it's polystyrene content must be done by specialized equipment in specialized facilities. In the absence of a recycling program waste facilities have to options; the worst case scenario is for it to be incinerated, which releases extremely dangerous styrene gas which can affect the nervous system in humans and animals. The second option is to send it to a land fill, where it will bio-degrade in about 450 years.

Countries like Japan have had to implement recycling programs that are almost imperialistic. Because the country is an island and it is populated by a consumer oriented society, authorities have had to implement stiff penalties for violations in recycling. In Tokyo if you commit a recycling infraction, which can include not separating your #1 from your #5 plastic could land you up to a $500 USD fine.

But in the US we are far from this type of intervention. Luckily we have the technology! Yes, we do. We are arguably the most advanced country in the world when it comes to engineering of new paper products, the US's chemical industry is second to none. Proof of these are the large number of real, bio-degradable products and recyclable materials being introduced to the market in the last 12 months. So, maybe in the future they will only find advertisements printed in Foam core in the 90's and wonder if advertising simply went out of style. The question is adoption of these new environmentally friendly materials.

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