new york city bans expandable polystyrene

8 january argus &mdash a new york city ban on the use of expandable polystyrene eps foam for singleuse 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&39s office.the ban means manufacturers and stores may not sell or offer singleuse 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 &quotpacking peanuts&quot will also be banned.&quotthese products cause real environmental harm and have no place in new york city,&quot de blasio said. &quotby removing nearly 30,000 tons of expanded polystyrene waste from our landfills, streets and waterways, today&39s announcement is a major step towards our goal of a greener, greater new york city.&quotmike levy, senior director for the american chemistry council&39s 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.&quotnew 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,&quot levy said in a release. &quotburying recyclable materials in landfills is not a sustainable solution for the environment or city residents.&quotin 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 sixmonth 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, nonprofits 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.mkalssend comments to feedback@argusmedia.comrequest more information about argus&39 energy and commodity news, data and analysis services.copyright &copy 2015 argus media ltd www.argusmedia.com all rights reserved.view more news articles&nbsp