As Abu Dhabi prepares to ban some single-use styrofoam products from June 1, we take a look at how harmful it is to the environment and public health.
Derived from petroleum, styrofoam is not biodegradable and often ends up in landfill for hundreds of years.
One of the main challenges is the lengthy and costly recycling process, leading to many countries banning these products as an effective way to curb pollution.
It is part of a bigger push by Abu Dhabi to reduce the reliance on single-use plastic items and to foster a culture of sustainability and recycling in the emirate. It first announced the comprehensive Single-Use Plastic Policy in 2020.
What is styrofoam?
While styrofoam is a brand name for products made from a form of plastic called expanded polystyrene (EPS), it’s become synonymous with any product made from this material.
It’s popularly used as takeout containers, coffee cups and more as it is cheap, lightweight and a good insulator.
Difficult to recycle
Due to its composition, experts say it takes a long time to decompose.
Once it is collected at a recycling centre, it needs to be sorted and cleaned, before being shredded and compressed into an ultra-dense material. It’s then turned into hard plastic at another centre.
It, however, cannot be turned back into styrofoam due to the compression.
Despite being a bulky, lightweight item – made up of 95 per cent air – the amount of recyclable material it yields is very small.
The recycling costs are also very high.
It poses a health risk
Styrofoam is more than just difficult to recycle, it is made up of toxic chemicals that are harmful to humans and animals.
One of the most concerning characteristics of polystyrene is the presence of styrene, which can be transferred to food and is considered a human carcinogen by the World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer.
Long-term exposure to small quantities of styrene can cause fatigue, nervousness, difficulty sleeping, chromosomal abnormalities and lead to acute health issues such as irritation of the skin, eyes, and upper respiratory tract, and gastrointestinal effects.
Chronic exposure is seen to affect the central nervous system causing depression and minor effects on kidney function and blood.
Polystyrene foam is littered more than any other waste product in waterways. The chemicals from these products pollute the water and are ingested by animals and marine life.
Countries that have banned styrofoam
A growing list of countries have pledged to “significantly reduce” the use of plastic by 2030. Many have already started by proposing or imposing rules on certain single-use plastics.
Rwanda is touted as a “global leader in plastic waste reduction”, implementing a ban on the production, import, and use of styrofoam in 2009.
Haiti banned foam food containers in 2012, while Seychelles stopped the import and sale of styrofoam in 2014, as part of its wider single-use plastic ban. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Zimbabwe announced a ban in 2017, and Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica followed two years later.
In 2019, the European Parliament voted 560 to 35 to ban all food containers made from expanded polystyrene throughout the EU member states.
Kenya, which had introduced a single-use plastic ban in 2017, expanded it to include styrofoam cups, plates and cutlery in 2020, while India’s capital city Delhi added styrofoam to its no-plastic ban in 2018.
In 2020, Denmark and France announced similar moves, and Canada amended its 'Environmental Protection Act' to include a styrofoam ban in 2022.
Thailand also followed suit in 2022, and several parts of Australia between 2021-2023 and Nigeria this year.
Many states in the US have also introduced a styrofoam ban, with the latest being Washington State, but there is no federal ban yet.
Several cities in the Philippines also have strict bans on the use of styrofoam.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Juliot Vinolia’s checklist for adopting alternate-day fasting
- Don’t do it more than once in three days
- Don’t go under 700 calories on fasting days
- Ensure there is sufficient water intake, as the body can go in dehydration mode
- Ensure there is enough roughage (fibre) in the food on fasting days as well
- Do not binge on processed or fatty foods on non-fasting days
- Complement fasting with plant-based foods, fruits, vegetables, seafood. Cut out processed meats and processed carbohydrates
- Manage your sleep
- People with existing gastric or mental health issues should avoid fasting
- Do not fast for prolonged periods without supervision by a qualified expert
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
if you go
The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
SNAPSHOT
While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Slow loris biog
From: Lonely Loris is a Sunda slow loris, one of nine species of the animal native to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore
Status: Critically endangered, and listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list due to growing demand in the global exotic pet trade. It is one of the most popular primate species found at Indonesian pet markets
Likes: Sleeping, which they do for up to 18 hours a day. When they are awake, they like to eat fruit, insects, small birds and reptiles and some types of vegetation
Dislikes: Sunlight. Being a nocturnal animal, the slow loris wakes around sunset and is active throughout the night
Superpowers: His dangerous elbows. The slow loris’s doe eyes may make it look cute, but it is also deadly. The only known venomous primate, it hisses and clasps its paws and can produce a venom from its elbow that can cause anaphylactic shock and even death in humans
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
It's Monty Python's Crashing Rocket Circus
To the theme tune of the famous zany British comedy TV show, SpaceX has shown exactly what can go wrong when you try to land a rocket.
The two minute video posted on YouTube is a compilation of crashes and explosion as the company, created by billionaire Elon Musk, refined the technique of reusable space flight.
SpaceX is able to land its rockets on land once they have completed the first stage of their mission, and is able to resuse them multiple times - a first for space flight.
But as the video, How Not to Land an Orbital Rocket Booster, demonstrates, it was a case if you fail, try and try again.
Essentials
The flights: You can fly from the UAE to Iceland with one stop in Europe with a variety of airlines. Return flights with Emirates from Dubai to Stockholm, then Icelandair to Reykjavik, cost from Dh4,153 return. The whole trip takes 11 hours. British Airways flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Reykjavik, via London, with return flights taking 12 hours and costing from Dh2,490 return, including taxes.
The activities: A half-day Silfra snorkelling trip costs 14,990 Icelandic kronur (Dh544) with Dive.is. Inside the Volcano also takes half a day and costs 42,000 kronur (Dh1,524). The Jokulsarlon small-boat cruise lasts about an hour and costs 9,800 kronur (Dh356). Into the Glacier costs 19,500 kronur (Dh708). It lasts three to four hours.
The tours: It’s often better to book a tailor-made trip through a specialist operator. UK-based Discover the World offers seven nights, self-driving, across the island from £892 (Dh4,505) per person. This includes three nights’ accommodation at Hotel Husafell near Into the Glacier, two nights at Hotel Ranga and two nights at the Icelandair Hotel Klaustur. It includes car rental, plus an iPad with itinerary and tourist information pre-loaded onto it, while activities can be booked as optional extras. More information inspiredbyiceland.com
