• Foam products are not biodegradable.
• Projections indicate significant growth in the use of this material, particularly in disposable food containers and wrappers.
• The nature of the material makes it a major contributor to litter.
• When littered, the material is detrimental to wildlife that ingests it.
• Paper products are biodegradable and can also be composted.
• Polystyrene production can be very damaging to the earth's ozone layer.
• Recycling of foam food containers is not practical.

Polystyrene food packaging is a serious and readily preventable source of marine debris pollution. Polystyrene food packaging is lightweight and aerodynamic, so it is easily blown into gutters and storm drains even when "properly" disposed of.  Polystyrene is also very brittle, so when littered it quickly breaks into small pieces making cleanup impossible.