NEW YORK—Legislation that would ban foam containers in the city now offers a compromise to its opponents—a year to prove whether recycling is viable.
The revised bill would give the city’s sanitation commissioner until Jan. 1, 2015, to determine whether expanded polystyrene (EPS), commonly known under the brand name of Styrofoam, is recyclable. If plastic foam is deemed unrecyclable, it will be banned in all city food service establishments on July 1, 2015.
Council member Lewis Fidler introduced the bill at the request of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who mentioned banning plastic foam in his State of the City speech in February, saying that foam is “something that we know is environmentally destructive, that is costing taxpayers money, and that is easily replaceable, is something we can do without.”
Plastic foam costs the city $1.8 million a year, or $95 a ton, to put into landfills, according to Cas Holloway, the deputy mayor for operations. DART, the world’s largest manufacturer of foam cups, has offered the city $160 a ton for used EPS containers, but will not accept any containers with food or grease.
Holloway said a pilot project to recycle EPS, between DART and the city’s recycling contractor was unsuccessful. The trays broke to pieces and couldn’t be recycled.
Holloway recommended banning plastic foam entirely, saying a ban would reduce contamination in the city’s current recycling and result in lower costs to the taxpayer.
A curbside recycling program for the single-use containers would require an additional 1,000 truck routes and would cost the city approximately $70 million a year, Holloway said.
In May, Holloway, Deputy Sanitation Commissioner Ron Gonen, and other city representatives met with McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts executives “who told us in writing that foam cannot be recycled, and they have initiated plans to discontinue the use of foam cups,” Holloway said.
Letitia James, chair of the Sanitation and Solid Waste Committee, said she supports the bill, but expressed concerns for restaurant owners who might face rising costs.
James acknowledged that she knew that the American Chemistry Council had set up a Restaurant Action Alliance in New York to use restaurant owners to lobby the council, but said that in a democracy everyone was entitled to their voice.
Gonen said a ban would increase the cost of a cup of coffee by roughly 2 cents, for an alternative, like paper or plastic.
The proposed ban comes on the heels of legislation banning EPS at large chain restaurants in Albany County on Nov. 12.
