It is a lot cleaner to burn, though. I dunno why we don't make better use of burnable waste materials to generate electricity, rather than sticking them in landfills. Emissions-wise, it is no more dirty than burning coal or other biomass products that we are already utilizing (I've seen the emissions numbers for a plant that once burned creosote-treated wood products, and has now switched to whole-tree chips). Storing a shovel-full of ash in the landfill is more efficient than storing the uncombusted products.

Even sitting in a landfill paper still poses way fewer risks than styrofoam, as soon as it gets exposed to air it starts to break down, fish and birds don't usually eat it and when they do, paper doesn't stay in their guts forever.