A New York City ban on the use of expandable polystyrene (EPS) foam for single-use food and drink containers as well as loose fill packaging will take effect on 1 July, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today.
Implementation of the ban, which was initially passed by the New York City Council in December 2013, was postponed for a year, as city offered the industry an opportunity to show how such materials could be effectively recycled.
After consultation with corporations, including Dart Container Corporation, which is one of the largest producers of expandable polystyrene foam containers, the New York City Department of Sanitation determined that expandable polystyrene cannot be recycled, according to the mayor's office.
The ban means manufacturers and stores may not sell or offer single-use foam items, such as cups, plates, trays or clamshell containers within the city starting on 1 July. The sale of loose fill packaging, such as "packing peanuts" will also be banned.
"These products cause real environmental harm and have no place in New York City," de Blasio said. "By removing nearly 30,000 tons of expanded polystyrene waste from our landfills, streets and waterways, today's announcement is a major step towards our goal of a greener, greater New York City."
Mike Levy, senior director for the American Chemistry Council's Plastics Foodservice Packaging Group, which lobbied against the ban, said the ban will mean that most foodservice packaging and foam protective packaging will continue to be sent to landfills instead of being recycled.
"New York City could have surpassed Los Angeles as the largest city to recycle foam packaging at curbside, building on the experience of existing curbside recycling programs in other cities," Levy said in a release. "Burying recyclable materials in landfills is not a sustainable solution for the environment or city residents."
In passing the ban, Levy said the city ignored an offer by a foam foodservice packaging manufacturer to help the city expand its recycling program to include foam packaging, in part by providing a guaranteed market for the material.
The law allows businesses a six-month grace period before fines will be imposed. For the first year of the ban, businesses will be given a warning in lieu of a fine.
In addition, non-profits and small businesses with less than $500,000 in revenue per year may apply for hardship exemptions from the Department of Small Business Services if they can prove that the purchase of alternative products not composed of expandable polystyrene would create an undue financial hardship.
New York City joins more than 70 cities in the US with similar bans, including San Francisco, Washington D.C., Portland, and Seattle.
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