Hey, there! Log in / Register
City Council considers banning Styrofoam food containers in Boston
By adamg on Tue, 10/13/2009 - 1:32pm
Matt Conti reports the City Council's Committee on Government Operations holds a hearing on Thursday (2 p.m. in its fifth-floor hearing room at City Hall) on a proposal by Councilor Steve Murphy to force restaurants to find other containers for their take-out chicken fingers.
Murphy argues the city has no way to recycle the stuff, which means the city has to spend money to have it hauled away in the trash. His proposed ordinance would require restaurants of more than 5,000 square feet (or which have more than five locations in the city) to use biodegradable or compostable containers and plasticware instead of "expanded polystyrene food service products and disposable food service ware." Violators would face fines from city inspectors; pre-packaged items in polystyrene containers would be exempt.
Neighborhoods:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Sort of...
Might the post title benefit from an insertion of ", sort of" at the end? Sounds like a lot of loopholes to the "ban".
This would be fantastic! Whit
This would be fantastic!
Whit
I know that Mcdonalds
I know that Mcdonalds reintroduced Styrofoam packaging for their iced tea in the past year, and faced some backlash. However, they explained that it was a new type of Styrofoam that could easily be recycled.
Anybody know anything about this? And how this newer type of Styrofoam isn't so bad?
not styrofoam...
... as has been mentioned before, styrofoam makes a lot of stuff, but food containers aren't one of 'em. and they get a little cranky about this.
they are accurately called "polystyrene foam food containers".
Are they that bored?
I'm wondering why there aren't recyclable, since most of the ones I see have a recycle number imprinted on the bottom... And why is it so expensive to get rid of them if they are taken away as trash - we pay by weight. I bed one refrigerator thrown out weighs more than all the styrene the city has to deal with in a year...
Dunkin
I'd like to see this happen- maybe Dunkin would stop using styrofoam cups to use as cold-finger protectors on their giant-ass iced coffees. People who double-cup should be fined and shunned.
And, things may be recyclable, but unless the city puts out recycling bins everywhere, even the recyclables get tossed in the trash (not everone is recycle happy like me and takes it home or to the office to dump it in the bin and not the trash)
BoLoco
This is a great idea. BoLoco stopped using plastic and styrofoam containers a while back. So has Sebastians, I think. There are lots of paper-based alternatives to this stuff even for wet things like salad with dressing.
As an aside, BoLoco also claims to use something called compostable plastic cups. They look like regular clear plastic cups but is says you can compost them. I am trying to compost one as an experiment but I don't know if the cup has dissapeared yet. Anyone know about this stuff?
I've had a a compostable cup
I've had a a compostable cup from Boloco in my compost bin for over a year and it hasn't broken down at all. I did a little research and apparently it really needs to be sent to a commercial compost facility in order to decompose.
Yes, it says so in the
Yes, it says so in the containers to cups come in - for commercial composting only.
You need a lot of pressure, temperature and bacteria to eat them.
As most people have never heard of commercial composting, its more of a marketing gimmick then a sustainability feature.
Also, if I recall correctly, styrofoam is plastic 6...which Boston doesn't recycle. I think, not sure about that.