The New York City administration has begun implementing ban on expanded polystyrene (EPS) foams used for making cups, bowls, plates, takeout containers, and trays for being non-recyclable.
Announced by the New York administration in January, the ban restricts food service establishments, stores and manufacturers from possessing, selling, or putting for use single service EPS foam articles or polystyrene loose fill packaging.
However, there is a six-month grace period for firms to comply, before fines are called into effect.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said: "These products cause real environmental harm and have no place in New York City. We have better options, better alternatives, and if more cities across the country follow our lead and institute similar bans, those alternatives will soon become more plentiful and will cost less.
"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."
Following rounds of discussions with vendors and non-profit organizations, such as, Dart Container Corporation and other stakeholders including the Department of Sanitation (DSNY), it was concluded that EPS foam are not suitable for recycling.
The DSNY also chipped in with the observation that there is an absence of any market for such post-consumer EPS that are collected during recycling drives for metal, glass and plastic. DSNY made a collection of around 28,500 tons of EPS from April 2013 to March 2014, finding that 90% of them came from single-use food service products, such as, cups, trays and containers.
Notably, the Local Law 142 by the City Council in December 2013 entailed the sanitation commissioner to ascertain 'whether EPS single service articles can be recycled at the designated recycling processing facility at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in a manner that is environmentally effective, economically feasible, and safe for employees'.
During the first year of the ban, businesses will be issued warning in place of slapping fines. However, non-profit organizations and small-scale ventures with less than $500,000 annual revenue are at liberty to contact Department of Small Business Services (SBS) for hardship exemptions.
The EPS has already been banned in Washington DC, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Oakland, Portland, Albany, and Seattle, among others, in the US.
