New Yorkers need to get ready to say goodbye to foam products forever.
Officials have taken a big leap to make the city more environmentally friendly with a new policy banning establishments and manufacturers from using polystyrene products. Businesses have six months to abide by the new law or they will start getting fined as of January 1, 2016.
The reason? The Department of Sanitation (DSNY) revealed that polystyrene foam isn’t recyclable and billions of these products are used in America each year. In schools alone, 800,000 foams lunch trays are used every single day.
“These products cause real environmental harm and have no place in New York City. We have better options, better alternatives, and if more cities across the country follow our lead and institute similar bans, those alternatives will soon become more plentiful and will cost less,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. “By removing nearly 30,000 tons of expanded polystyrene waste from our landfills, streets and waterways, today’s announcement is a major step towards our goal of a greener, greater New York City.”
While some other American cities have already taken similar steps, New York is now the largest city in the country to ban these products.
“Removing polystyrene from our waste stream is not only good for a greener, more sustainable New York, but also for the communities who are home to landfills receiving the City’s trash," said Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia.
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