In a legislative session, the Maryland General Assembly passed a bill prohibiting that lightweight food packaging we’re all used to getting takeout with: Styrofoam.
Styrofoam, or expanded polystyrene (EPS), is a staple of most food services. Almost every order of KFC chicken, McDonald’s breakfast, or Arby’s roast beef has been packaged and taken home in a Styrofoam tray.
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But after you enjoy those meals you’ve brought home, those foam trays don’t magically disappear once you throw them away.
They accumulate, and in the worst places possible. If it ain’t landfills, it’s probably in the oceans or beaches.
It’s time to face the reality that we’ve produced way too much plastic to know what to do with. I bet you never even think of where all those fast-food trays and plastic bags you’ve thrown away end up in. You threw it away, so it’s not your problem anymore, right?
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It may not be your problem, but it’ll certainly be a problem for any marine animals that accidentally choke on it.
Maryland could become the first state to ban Styrofoam food containers https://t.co/JUzhNGxD9r pic.twitter.com/ZPDdrGWLMT
— The Hill (@thehill) March 6, 2019
So why aren’t we all doing what Maryland’s doing? The answer is a little complicated. Our food industry and day-to-day lives are so well adjusted to being reliant on Styrofoam that outright phasing it out might create a few problems.
Finding alternatives is one. Most alternatives to expanded polystyrene are more expensive to manufacture.
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This may not be an issue for those massive restaurant franchises worth millions, even billions of dollars. It’s the smaller businesses that’ll find it tricky to adjust.
Places like your local diners and small, up-and-coming restaurants tend to have fairly tight budget constraints they have to be careful with. These things include employee salaries, rent, the meat and vegetables they cook with, and the disposable products like tissues and trays with their logo on it.
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And by the end of it all, they need to make sure they’re still raking in profit to keep the business running.
A small increase in the cost of disposable restaurant items might complicate that delicate balance, which is exactly the point certain opponents to Maryland’s new bill brought up.
Furthermore, with a pandemic forcing us to adjust to a new normal, handing out take-out meals in Styrofoam trays is the safest option for customers and small food businesses alike.
So while plastic waste is a gigantic, landfill-sized issue, the timing on this bill wasn’t really the greatest thing for small food businesses.
UK to support plans for new global treaty to 'turn tide' on plastic pollution https://t.co/PAiCPWIi88
Lord Goldsmith says Britain, the second biggest per capita producer of plastic waste, could play leading role in tackling crisis pic.twitter.com/e0ajY5JW0y— Svein Tveitdal (@tveitdal) November 19, 2020
Although it’s hard to blame anyone when things like a global pandemic are on the list of factors. All things considered, this is turning out to be one of those “bite the bullet” situations.
Polystyrene (aka styrofoam), is a form of plastic, and among the worst types of litter. It can be toxic and absorbs chemicals. Fish eat the small pieces thinking it’s food. Polystyrene foam cannot be recycled and does not biodegrade in landfills. pic.twitter.com/hXle8JaVTJ
— TennesseeRiverkeeper (@TNRiverkeeper) September 30, 2019
Looking at the other side of the fence, many detractors of Maryland’s new bill argue that the alternatives wouldn’t make any meaningful difference. Alternatives to the Styrofoam trays and packaging will end up as litter all the same, they posit. They’re not exactly wrong.
Though the director for the Environmental Protection Department of Montgomery County, Adam Ortiz, provided his perspective on things.
Styrofoam’s tendency to break down into smaller pieces. Pieces that don’t get disposed of, or broken down, as easily. Those little pieces could find their way into our waterways, the soil, or an animal’s digestive system.
Any small rain now in Lagos or any drainages you see around just look inside and this is what you see! It is either the producers take responsibility or it is outrightly banned @NESREANigeria @lshaofficial @LasgMOE @Lawma_gov @LagosWaste @lagospedia @Gidi_Traffic pic.twitter.com/LewHgXjmWS
— Adewole Taiwo (@taiwoadewole) November 25, 2020
So all things considered, he thinks the ban on expanded polystyrene was the right call. A lot of other people think so too.
In fairness, how hard is it to get your takeout in a cardboard tray instead of a Styrofoam one? When you sit down and consider how much plastic is invading our ecosystems and our bodies now too, it’s a pretty long-overdue change.
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Only time will tell how much faster other states, and even other countries, follow suit. The pandemic has halted plans everywhere, and all we can do is play the waiting game.
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