TWELVE US states are now under the threat of daily $50 fines if they do not abide by a new July law targeting restaurants.
The environmental policy hits out at vendors that use a damaging type of food container that takes centuries to decompose.
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From July 1, several states in the US singed onto a new law banning the use of expanded polystyrene food containers at restaurants and other food vendors.
Expanded polystyrene is better known by the name Styrofoam.
If businesses are caught using the environmentally damaging items, they will be hit with daily $50 fines until the stop.
This includes the likes of food trucks and even school cafeterias, too.
The twelve states currently signed on to this law include:
- Maryland
- Maine
- Vermont
- New York
- New Jersey
- Colorado
- Virginia
- Washington
- Delaware
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- California
Different states implemented this law at different times, with Maryland first embracing it way back in October 2020.
Virginia, one of the most recent states to sign on, is only upholding the law for food vendors with 20 or more locations.
A larger ban will come into effect on July 1, 2026.
Styrofoam is cheaper than more biodegradable materials, costing restaurants roughly 14 cents a container compared to 25 cents for an alternative.
However, Styrofoam takes 500 years to decompose and is also damaging to wildlife.
Environmentalists at Frontier Group warned in 2023 that chemicals to leach from Styrofoam products can also be toxic to marine life.
The group said: “Three million tons of polystyrene foam are produced in the United States every year.
“(That’s) enough foam to fill AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, almost five times.
Which states have banned polystyrene food service containers?
Virginia is the latest state to eliminate Styrofoam containers
California, Delaware, Oregon, Rhode Island, and nearly all of Hawaii have banned the use of plastic foam.
They have joined the growing number of states, counties, and municipalities that have barred bars and restaurants from using Styrofoam to package food, starting from January 2025.
Delaware enacted a law to phase out plastic foam foodware and reduce other unnecessary single-use plastics.
Food vendors may not use polystyrene foam containers for prepared food in Oregon.
A bill in Oregon prohibits food vendors from using polystyrene foam containers for prepared food, and bans the sale of polystyrene foam containers or polystyrene foam packing peanuts.
Washington issued a similar ban for businesses to sell Styrofoam bowls, plates, cups and other products last summer.
“Far too much of this foam becomes litter in our communities, polluting our roadsides, parks, rivers and beaches.
“Turtles, mammals, seabirds and other marine animals eat this foam – mistaking it for their food – and can suffer blocked digestive tracts that can keep them from getting the nutrients they need and cause starvation.”
DIFFERENT SIDES
The law has been controversial among some who believe it will do damage to small businesses.
CEO of the Delaware Restaurant Association, Carrie Leishman, told Delaware Online: “The stain which this could place on a small business could end so many of them.
“What this bill really impacts is equity in the restaurant business.
“The impact upon our local ethnic minority communities, given its effects on these small restaurants, will be incredibly damaging.”
But on the other side, some lawmakers have come forward in support of the law.
Governor Janet Mills in Maine, the first state to ban the product in January 2021, said: “Polystyrene cannot be recycled like a lot of other products, so while that cup of coffee may be finished, the Styrofoam cup it was in is not.
“In fact, it will be around for decades to come and eventually it will break down into particles, polluting our environment, hurting our wildlife, and even detrimentally impacting our economy.”
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