Finally, a potential citywide ban that makes sense. No, we aren't talking about your Big Gulp. DNAinfo reports that the Sanitation Department is getting ready to ask the city to follow the lead of other cities and ban Styrofoam containers.
"I'm proposing legislation to ban Styrofoam in New York City," deputy commissioner for recycling and sustainability Ron Gonen told the website. He's still working out details of the plan but promises it will focus on the businesses that buy the potentially hazardous material, technically named extended polystyrene (the DOW Chemical Company owns the Styrofoam name). "The onus would not be on the consumer," he said. "This would not be something that the consumer would have to deal with."
What's the reason for banning the light, white stuff that keeps your soup so hot? "From a pure dollars-and-cents standpoint, it costs us money to dispose of Styrofoam in a landfill," Gonen explains. "It's also unhealthy for the environment. It doesn't break down properly." And don't take his word for it, just ask the EPA.
This is not the first time such a ban has been proposed in the city, it has been brought up in City Council before to no effect, but coming from the newly created recycling czar it actually could stand a chance of making it through. Especially as it might not even be an out-and-out ban. Instead the Sanitation Department is considering making those who buy the stuff pay for it to be disposed of.
