Massachusetts might have led the nation in banning disposable meals containers made out of polystyrene a decade in the past, a frontrunner of an environmental advocacy group stated as she pitched laws that has as a substitute stalled on Beacon Hill.
More than 10 states and 60 Massachusetts municipalities have handed numerous bans on polystyrene, which will be made as a tough plastic or foam, stated Jess Nahigian, political director of the Sierra Club’s Massachusetts chapter.
“Polystyrene is unsustainable, it’s toxic — it is a synthetic petrochemical that doesn’t degrade,” Nahigian stated at a Joint Committee on Public Health listening to late final week. “It creates microplastics that we find in our air, our water, our soil, shellfish, etc. It can’t be recycled.”
The newest proposals from Rep. Marjorie Decker, the committee co-chair, and Sen. Michael Barrett would apply to single-use disposable merchandise together with plates, cups, bowls, hinged or lidded containers, straws, cup lids and utensils.
Restaurants and different meals institutions could be blocked from offering containers made out of polystyrene beginning subsequent August beneath the laws, as would retailers resembling grocery shops or comfort shops.
But meals institutions might search native approval to delay implementing the regulation for one yr by demonstrating an undue hardship, which the laws defines as a state of affairs “where there are no reasonable alternatives to the use of polystyrene disposable food service containers and compliance with this provision would cause significant economic hardship.”
At the listening to, Decker admonished firms and the American Chemistry Council, which she described as an trade lobbying group, for his or her opposition to the proposals. Those companies, the Cambridge Democrat stated, are making earnings by permitting dangerous chemical compounds for use.
In written testimony, the Plastics Industry Association warned payments from Decker and Barrett, plus an identical proposal from Rep. Dave Rogers, would increase prices for small companies and prospects. The affiliation, which represents 750 firms, urged officers to bolster recycling efforts and polystyrene take-back packages.
“We are firmly committed to manufacturing products that meet the environmental, social, and business needs of consumers,” the affiliation informed the committee in a letter, which was shared with the News Service.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”