Ban Use of Styrofoam Food Packaging - Take Action!

On March 26, the Buffalo Common Council allowed for a 30 day comment period on potential legislation to ban the use of Expanded Polystyrene Food Packaging, more commonly known by the trademark name Styrofoam. The base legislation would ban the use of foam food service cups, plates, bowls, and clamshell containers. 

These products are neither recyclable nor bio-degradable. Their continued use and disposal has fouled our environment and harmed fish and wildlife.

This type of legislation has been passed around the country, with a momentum boost given by the enactment of a ban in New York City effective 1/1/19.  The City of Buffalo was nearly the first major city in the country to ban Styrofoam in 1990, but backed out when the county refused to join in on the ban. That is not the issue this time, as the City has not tied this into a wider, regional ban. However, the leadership in Erie County today would be more amenable to joining in on a ban.

TAKE ACTION to Help Ban Styrofoam Food Packaging

Mail or email Councilman Pridgen’s office (and your District Councilman’s office if you live in Buffalo) by April 25th voicing your support for a ban on Styrofoam (See a sample letter - Click here). 

Contact information:
Darius G. Pridgen, Council President & Ellicott District,
65 Niagara Sq., Rm 1315, Buffalo, NY 14202

Email: dpridgen@city-buffalo.com
Call: (716) 851 – 4980

Thank you for your help!

This effort was started as part of a campaign Bring NYC’s Styrofoam Ban to My Hometown! through the Sierra Club Niagara Group.

John Szalasny
Sierra Club Niagara Group Executive Committee
Email: sierraniagara.john@gmail.com

NOT recyclable or bio-degradable - Fouling Our Environment

Ban Polystyrene Products that are Fouling Our Environment

 

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Bring NYC’s plastic foam packaging ban to Buffalo

By John S. Szalasny | 2.20.2019 | Another Voice - The Buffalo News

Food for thought as you sip your takeout coffee or bring your leftovers home from the restaurant in the clamshell takeout container. Expanded polystyrene (EPS), the foundation of these containers, was invented in 1939.

All of the foam ever made for these conveniences, 80 years worth, still exists either in landfills or as trash sitting on roadsides, fields or waterways. We are at risk of being buried in the volume of this lightweight material.

On Jan. 1, New York City joined a growing list of cities that have instituted a ban on EPS foam takeout cups and containers.

The city determined that EPS foam could not be recycled and that aligns with the guidelines of our major local waste handlers, Modern Disposal and Waste Management. Neither provide municipal recycling home collection of EPS containers or packing materials even though the plastic makes up about 30 percent by volume of the waste that ends up in a landfill.

The issues with waste management are bad enough. However, EPS foam is the only packaging used in food handling that is made of known carcinogens. When heated, styrenes and benzene leach into food and drinks. Toxic exposure can be airborne or by touch. Symptoms of exposure include chronic fatigue and a decreased ability to concentrate. In addition, chemicals from EPS foam can cause liver, kidney or circulatory system problems.

Environmentally, EPS foam is a nightmare. An estimated 25 billion EPS coffee cups were thrown out last year in the United States. These cups (as well as the takeout containers) are made from fossil fuels and never biodegrade. In landfills, bulldozers moving the trash pile break down EPS into smaller pieces. The smaller pieces are very attractive to wildlife as a possible food source. Birds and fish starve to death with stomachs filled with plastics.