Looking at the world state of the environment and climate change, the US state of Maryland decided to take over certain measures and to improve the situation.
Starting from an initiative of the Democrats, very soon it might happen that the legislation of this state is amended requiring ban of polystyrene food containers and cups. At this moment, the proposed amendments are under negotiation between the House and the Senate and it is expected to be finalized soon. Afterwards, the final decision for their adoption will be in the hands of the Republican Governor who will have to sign the law in order to become legally binding.
The polystyrene products are known as plastic foam in the form of cups and food containers for single use. This lightweight material easily breaks into smaller pieces, making it difficult to clean up. The foam also absorbs toxins much faster than other plastics and is very often mistaken for food by marine life. Currently, plastic foam bans are already introduced in several areas of Maryland, including Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.
The representative of the Democrats stated that, the fact that the oceans, bays, riverbeds, streams and neighborhoods are full with plastic, an urgent and dramatic step has to be undertaken, so that people can become more aware of this matter and they can leave a planet with a lot of green areas and various wildlife, as inheritance to the future generations.
Although some major companies as Dunkin’ Donuts confirmed that they will stop the use of plastic foam containers, the representative of the Maryland Retailers Association considers that this law could load Maryland’s businesses with increased costs for the restaurants that will reflect to the customers only because the comparable products weigh more and the majority of them cannot be recycled, so the costs will increase due to higher weight-based fees at landfills.
On the other side, the American Chemistry Council, that is the trade association of chemical manufacturers, opposed to this law. In their statement, they said that the polystyrene foam packaging provide both business owners and consumers with a cost-effective and environmentally preferable option ideal for food protection and food waste prevention. Moreover, the foam packaging consists of generally more than 90% air and has a lighter environmental impact than the available alternatives.
This ban could only be the first step in creating a better and cleaner environment, meaning that this single measure shall not stop and remove all the litter, but it is an initial measure by which one material can be reduced from entering into the environment, that should be followed by similar measures for other similar materials.
In case the proposed amendments are accepted and enter into force, then Maryland is paving its way to becoming the first US state to ban plastic foam. The representatives of the environmental groups encourage this step hoping that it will lead to change of the people’s mindset to use less or none single-use plastics and to find more environment friendly alternatives.
