. Styrofoam is a inexpensive, light, and durable material that many companies tend to use for packaging but a large amount of that styrofoam is discarded into landfills or burned. “[Styrofoam] takes 500 years to decompose, and it takes up to 25-30% of our worlds landfills… There are 57 chemical by-products released during the manufacturing of styrene, polluting our air and waterways” (Lucas 2014). Manufacturing styrofoam isn't the only time chemicals are released into the air, it also happens when it is burned after being used. “Burning styrofoam gives off 90 different hazardous chemicals, including styrene vapors and dioxins” (Kremer 2003). There are ways in which styrofoam can be recycled, but there aren’t many recycling plants available that actually do recycle it. Because of this, a majority of styrofoam is thrown out into landfill. There are alternatives to styrofoam, such as new forms using starch. “Glenn works at the ARS Western Regional Research Center in Albany, Calif… [and has] been developing and patenting innovative, "green" techniques for transforming commonplace plant starches—like the silky white cornstarch kept in kitchen cupboards everywhere—into convenient, biodegradable foamed goods like shipping liners, dinnerware and more” (Wood 2009). Although styrofoam might seem like an impressive product that can make packaging items easier, it actually does more damage to the earth and to the body in the long run. Instant ramen noodle packaging isn’t the only source of waste created by this product, it is also created in the manufacturing factories. However, this type of waste is being repurposed.
It goes without saying a factory is bound to create waste when in use. With instant ramen noodle factories, studies have shown noodle wastewater can be beneficial. There are generally two major types of wastewater. The first is liquid waste, which contains starch and the second is solid noodle waste, which contains starch, lingo-cellulose, and oil. In order to convert noodle water waste into different products, it must go through “pretreatment involving extraction followed by centrifugation is necessary to separate oil from starch and ligno-cellulose” (Karmee 2017). This process takes a lot of time, energy, and can be expensive. This process is still done because of how many products wastewater can be transformed into. Wastewater can be converted into biodiesel, bio oil, bioethanol, nutrient, and animal feed. If this wastewater weren’t converted into these products, it would be released into the environment, causing bad odor and groundwater contamination. This is because “general wastewater contains high amounts of starch” (Karmee 2017). Being able to convert this waste into various other products is incredibly environmentally conscious, if done correctly.
Although the overall idea of instant ramen noodles is supposed to be positive, convenient, and affordable for the overall population, the negative effects the product has on the earth and our health are higher. Being able to consider all the factors that make up the product, it becomes easier to understand how different ingredients can become detrimental to our environment when in high consumption like they are today. By learning more about what we eat, where it came from, and how it was manufactured, we can begin to make much more conscious decisions on what we purchase.
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