Styrofoam Container (Photo : www.huffingtonpost.com)
Styrofoam containers will no longer be allowed in New York City starting on summer.
On Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio made an announcement that any and all plastic-foam packaging and containers will be banned in the United States' most populous city starting July 1.
Manufacturers, shops and restaurants should no longer have possession of products made from expanded polystyrene (EPS). Selling of the said products will also be illegal.
The plan to ban Styrofoam products has been pitched by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg in December 2013.
According to Time, the reason behind the ban is because EPS cannot be recycled into anything.
However, the decision to ban Styrofoam containers was also met with some resistance.
Dart Container offered to take care of the waste from the Styrofoam products in the city, after which the manufacturer will buy uses Styrofoam containers to recycle them at an Indiana plant, Fortune reported.
On the other hand, there are also some supporters of the Styrofoam container ban move, including the New York State Restaurant Association and Dunkin Donuts.
Dunkin Brands global public relations senior director Michelle King said that the coffee giant is already testing alternative cups and that they will "continue to explore" other options.
New York City is not the first to enact the Styrofoam container ban. San Francisco, Portland and Seattle have also implemented the environmental measure.
According to the law, a six-month grace period will be allotted for the new ban. This would mean that the absolute ban will only be implemented on January 1, 2016.
