Mayor de Blasio today announced that the City’s styrofoam ban will go into effect by January 1, 2019, following the dismissal of a lawsuit preventing the implementation of the ban. This means that food service establishments, stores, and manufacturers may not possess, sell, or offer for use single service Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) foam food service articles or loose fill packaging, such as “packing peanuts” in New York City beginning in 2019. Over the next six months, the de Blasio administration will work with businesses across the City to ensure they understand the law and help them transition to new materials to replace foam products.
“New York City’s ban on styrofoam is long overdue, and New Yorkers are ready to start using recyclable alternatives. There’s no reason to continue allowing this environmentally unfriendly substance to flood our streets, landfills, and waterways,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Following the dismissal of a lawsuit delaying the ban on Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) foam food service articles and packing peanuts in New York City, the city is now able to begin the process of implementing the ban. After consultation with corporations, non-profits, vendors, and other stakeholders, the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) determined that EPS Foam cannot be recycled. DSNY also determined that there currently is no recycling market for post-consumer EPS collected in a curbside metal, glass, and plastic recycling program.
As a result of the ban, manufacturers and stores may not sell or offer single-use foam items such as cups, plates, trays, or clamshell containers in the City. The sale of polystyrene loose fill packaging, such as “packing peanuts” is also banned. There is a six month grace period from when the ban goes into effect on January 1, 2019 before fines can be imposed. DSNY, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the Department of Consumer Affairs will conduct outreach and education in multiple languages to businesses throughout all five boroughs beginning now and during this period.
Local Law 142, passed by the City Council in December 2013, required the DSNY Commissioner to determine whether EPS single service articles can be recycled in an “economically feasible” and “environmentally effective” way. Under the law, if the Commissioner found that EPS was not recyclable, foam food service items and packaging peanuts were then banned.
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 (SBS) if they can prove that the purchase of alternative products not composed of EPS would create undue financial hardship. SBS will begin accepting applications for hardship waivers in the fall.
“As we had previously determined, plain and simple, expanded polystyrene cannot be recycled, and we are pleased that the court decision will allow us to remove this problematic material from our waste stream. This necessary step will help us as we continue to move towards our goal of sending zero waste to landfills,” said Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia. “We will now restart our outreach and education work to ensure all city businesses are aware of the new rule, and prepared for its upcoming implementation.”
Corporation Counsel Zachary W. Carter said, “In dismissing a lawsuit that sought to block this important environmental initiative, the Court recognized that the City’s determination to ban food service foam products was ‘a painstakingly studied decision’ and ‘was in no way rendered arbitrarily or capriciously.’ The Court has cleared the way for the City to begin its outreach to businesses so they are aware of and can prepare for the law’s specific requirements before any enforcement occurs.”
“This is a pivotal and long-overdue step to protect New York City from the unnecessary damage Styrofoam does to our streets, water, and people,” said Mark Chambers, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability.
About EPS:
- Expanded polystyrene is a plastic resin manufactured into consumer products such as “foam” cups, containers, trays, plates, clamshell cases and egg cartons.
- DSNY collected approximately 28,500 tons of expanded polystyrene in Fiscal Year 2014 and estimates that approximately 90 percent of that is from single-use food service products like cups, trays and containers.
- EPS is a major source of neighborhood litter and hazardous to marine life. EPS foam is a lightweight material that can clog storm drains and can also end up on our beaches and in New York Harbor. EPS containers can break down into smaller pieces, which marine animals may mistake for food. The environmental assessment prepared for the bill found that expanded polystyrene particles can wind up in the harbor, and in the floating gyre of non-biodegradable plastic debris that has been found in the Atlantic Ocean – creating a hazard for marine life such as sea turtles and fish.
- EPS is a contaminant of the city’s organics program. The presence of EPS foam in NYC’s waste stream has a detrimental effect on the City’s organic collection program. During the collection process, foam can break down into small pieces that get mixed in with and contaminate organic material, rendering it unmarketable for anaerobic digestion or composting.
- EPS is already banned in cities across the country, including Washington, DC, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Oakland, Portland, Albany, and Seattle. In total, more than seventy cities have banned foam and businesses large and small have shifted to alternative products that are biodegradable or otherwise recyclable.
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