Exposure to UV from sunlight will degrade the styrene molecule. Exposure to ambient ozone will also degrade the styrene molecule. In the sun, in a place with lots of ozone pollution, styrofoam falls apart in months. Built into refrigerators and ice chests, sealed away from ozone exposure with antioxidants built in, styrofoam will last for (probably) centuries. In a landfill, styrofoam usually lasts about a decade, depending on moisture and biological history.
polystyrene foam (styrofoam cups and packaging materials) is soluble in acetone.It is not melted but dissolved.The acetone dissolves the long polymer strands releasing the trapped air(foam) and thus the structure collapses
Styrofoam is a brand trade mark for extruded polystyrene foam. This foam is a very good insulator, and will trap heat, so keeping food hot for a long times.
Never.............................................NEVER
400 YEARS.... !
It will take 400 years.
polymer
Styrofoam takes more than a million years to decompose. It is the most environmentally unfriendly product that humans use today.
Polystyrene foam is a good insulator. The characteristics that make polystyrene is a good insulator stems from its composition of long polymer chains and because it encapsulates regions of gas in the form of a closed cell foam. Air and gas in general are poor conductors of hear when convection is inhibited as it is in a foam. (The form used in insulation is often a closed cell foam, but that is not the only form taken by polystyrene.)
The two problems with polystyrene materials, which includes styrofoam cups, is that it takes an extremely long time to decompose (compared with other materials) and tends to crumble and become a big source of water-borne trash, potentially harming different kinds of animals.
In a clean dry place out if the sun, never!
Polystyrene foam is a good insulator. The characteristics that make polystyrene is a good insulator stem from its composition of long polymer chains and because it encapsulates regions of gas in the form of a closed cell foam. Air and gas in general are poor conductors of hear when convection is inhibited as it is in a foam. (The form used in insulation is often a closed cell foam, but that is not the only form taken by polystyrene.)
No, polystyrene cups are not considered biodegradable. They do degrade, but it takes so long that they are not considered biodegradable.