A new peer-reviewed study from Franklin Associates Ltd. provides an extensive and comparative look at the energy and environmental performance of foodservice packaging products made with polystyrene foam, bleached paperboard or corrugated paperboard. Known as a life cycle inventory, or simply LCI, the study offers a cradle-to-grave picture of a product’s environmental attributes, from raw material extraction and manufacturing to post-use recovery or disposal. In the four key areas, the LCI study demonstrates that polystyrene foam products in most cases have environmental burdens that are lower than or comparable to the alternative products studied.