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Expanded polystyrene, or EPS, is light, cheap, useful and technically recyclable. It is also bulky, easily fragmented, difficult to manage once loose, and regularly found in beaches, streets, waterways and stormwater systems.

This article brings together litter data, environmental reports, recycling evidence and indicative economic modelling to ask a practical question: if clean EPS can be recycled in Australia, why is so much of it still being sent to landfill or escaping into the environment?

The summary draws on evidence from BeachPatrol and Love Our Street litter data, Clean Up Australia, Tangaroa Blue, the Port Phillip EcoCentre, the Yarra Riverkeeper Association, Seabin Foundation and Sea Shepherd. Across these sources, the pattern is consistent: polystyrene keeps appearing as a major litter and marine debris item.

The article includes:

• an infographic estimating Australia’s annual EPS landfill footprint at about 19,000 tonnes, or 380,000 cubic metres
• a visual summary of polystyrene litter evidence from multiple organisations
• a discussion of why a simple ban may not solve the problem if EPS is replaced with another poorly managed single-use material
• an indicative comparison of the economic, landfill-space, emissions, employment and clean-up impacts of landfilling versus recycling EPS
• a table outlining current EPS uses in Australia, possible alternatives, recovery options and examples of successful source-reduction or recycling models
• reference to Tangaroa Blue’s IOT Esky Library Trial, where reusable eskies replaced single-use EPS boxes and prevented polystyrene waste from entering the system in the first place
• a short editorial article using the example of a raven feeding polystyrene to its chicks to show the real-world consequences of unmanaged plastic waste
• source lists and calculation notes for the figures used throughout

The key argument is not that all EPS should be treated the same way. Unnecessary and contaminated single-use EPS should be reduced or phased out. Reusable systems should be prioritised wherever possible. But where clean EPS packaging continues to be used, businesses should be required to separate it, contain it, take it back, fund recovery systems, or participate in recycling programs so it is sent to Australian recyclers instead of becoming landfill, litter or waste.

The full PDF includes hyperlinks to supporting sources throughout, including within the polystyrene litter evidence image, as well as dedicated source and calculation pages at the end.

Author note: This document is a researched, community-facing summary, not a formal technical report or expert industry paper. It brings together publicly available information, litter data, environmental reports and indicative calculations to help explain the issue clearly and support practical discussion about better EPS management.

The 500-Year Convenience Polystyrene. By Jaqui O'Leary-11.pdf - Google Drive