New York City moves to ban plastic foam containers

[Donald Polish]

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is moving forward on a plan to ban city food establishments from using plastic foam containers because of the harm they cause the environment. The ban will leave restaurateurs and food vendors in a bind.
The ban would take effect this summer and fulfill an initiative begun under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. New York would join other cities such as San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, which have banned plastic foam containers, made with polystyrene, for being a “first-class environmental nuisance.”
Under the foam container ban, polystyrene coffee cups and takeout containers will be outlawed. Packing peanuts will also be banned from being sold in the city, but they can still be placed in packages shipped to the city from elsewhere.
The New York City Council passed the ban last year but gave the polystyrene industry a year to see if it could come up with a recycling program as an alternative. The costs, however, proved prohibitive.
Does someone support such kind of laws? Ask yourself who will suffer most of all? I doubt law-makers will.

 

[Mr. H.]

This I can understand, but banning hydraulic fracturing in the entire state of NY was the dumbest most ignorant political ploy ever. Screw those idiots.

 

[Rozman]

Are those plastic sporks next?

 

[Gracie]

Nothing will impact the environment in NY. Nasty city.

 

[saveliberty]

Who is going to enforce the law? NYPD?

 

[Gracie]

NYPD is MIA.

 

[Menerva Lindsen]

Who is going to enforce the law? NYPD?

NYPD must be revised. However they "struggle" with plastic foam containers. It seems to me that there is no bright future for the New York city. You can be chokeholded by a police but can't use comfy plastic containers.

 

[Mr. H.]

Who is going to enforce the law? NYPD?

NYPD must be revised. However they "struggle" with plastic foam containers. It seems to me that there is no bright future for the New York city. You can be chokeholded by a police but can't use comfy plastic containers.

Misguided, misplaced priorities.

Sound familiar?

Liberals are so predictable.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Don't go to NYC without your papers.....

 

[Politico]

Idiot New Yoooorkers get what they deserve.

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

They are also very unhealthy because they melt so easily.

Alternatives to Harmful Plastic Food Containers

• Some containers can leach cancer-causing chemicals into foods when heated, especially if they were not originally meant to store food in the first place.[1]
• Plastics made with bisphenol-A (BPA), especially polycarbonate plastic #7, can leach the chemical into food during normal use and when exposed to hot foods and liquids (like boiling water).[2]
• There are concerns that styrene from polystyrene food containers can migrate from the foam into the food or beverage, posing health problems for those consuming the product.[4]

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

What's wrong with different containers?

http://www.brighthub.com/environment/green-living/articles/93969.aspx

• Bagasse based containers. Bagasse is the fiber left over after molasses is pressed from sugar cane. Food containers can be made from the fiber, which is compostable.

• Corn plastic containers. These containers, which look exactly like conventional plastic or foam containers, are made from corn that is grown in the US. Composted under commercial conditions, they break down in 45 to 60 days.

• Compostable paper containers. There are containers available made from sustainably raised trees and lined with compostable plastics to prevent leakage during use.