Styrofoam Ban Coming To NY In Two Weeks

[TTL News 313]

Quote

 

With the new year will come a sweeping ban on foamed polystyrene products, commonly referred to as styrofoam. Packing-peanuts, takeout containers, coffee cups, and the sale of all products using foamed polystyrene will be ceased in the Empire state, as will polystyrene manufacturing.

The ban will not pertain to foamed polystyrene that’s used for raw meat or fish, or regular polystyrene which is a material that CD and DVD cases are made commonly made from.

Foamed polystyrene products come at a low upfront cost to consumers and retailers, but a high cost to the environment. It’s a plastic, meaning the key ingredient to make it is petroleum. Polystyrene products break down so slowly that it can’t be considered biodegradable, and it’s a challenging material to recycle. Estimates for how long it takes for polystyrene to break down vary widely, from 500 to 1 million years, even across studies considering similar conditions, like in open water or landfills. Foamed polystyrene products have been estimated to take up about 30 percent of U.S. landfill space.

 

See more here.

[Andy 70]

Good, the sound of styrofoam is one of the worst sounds I’ve ever heard

[Ars76 69]

I wonder if it will eventually apply to companies shipping items to NY...