Washington state has enacted a new law effectively banning Styrofoam containers, KPTV reported. The move is expected to decrease the overall amount of pollution in the state, as Styrofoam is rarely recycled and has many harmful impacts on our natural environment.
The new law, which went into effect on June 1, 2024, bans the sale of anything made out of expanded polystyrene (sometimes referred to as EPS), including clamshell takeout containers, foam packing peanuts, Styrofoam coffee cups, single-use foam coolers, and more.
"It's a big deal," Heather Trim, executive director of Zero Waste Washington, told the Washington State Standard. "We have had, over time, just an explosion in the use of single-use plastic foodware."
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In addition to being a major source of plastic pollution when it inevitably ends up in the environment, the non-biodegradable expanded polystyrene may be a major hazard to human health as well. Research from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has indicated that styrene is a possible carcinogen and that it can spread from takeout containers into the food you are eating.
Several states and municipalities have recently moved to ban various types of single-use plastic products in an attempt to reduce pollution and improve the quality of life for their citizens, including California, which banned all plastic bag sales at grocery stores, and Massachusetts, which is also moving toward a similar ban. Oregon also passed a similar Styrofoam ban last year.
Other places have taken a different approach to combating plastic pollution: suing the companies responsible for producing it. New York state recently filed suit against PepsiCo, accusing the food and beverage giant of creating a "public nuisance" with its massive quantities of throwaway food and drink containers.
Single-use plastics are among the most pernicious forms of pollution in our society, and our recycling system is not adequate to handle almost any of them. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 91% of plastic isn't recycled at all, with the vast majority ending up in landfills (where it leaches microplastics into the soil and surrounding waterways) or in the environment.
If you would like to reduce your own plastic pollution, consider taking steps like getting a reusable water bottle and ditching single-use coffee products.
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