Three Months and Counting
Annapolis is about to wave goodbye to Styrofoam.
The city will prohibit the use of expanded polystyrene in food service businesses starting in September, following the city council’s ban last October.
Included are all restaurants, grocery and convenience stores, vending trucks, food carts and institutional cafeterias.
Use up your current stores of cups, bowls, plates and takeout containers, clamshells and trays now to be in compliance, the city advises. “The grace period runs to September 1, 2019. After that, businesses using the product will be fined $100 for the first offense and $200 for subsequent violations.”
Known by the commonly trademarked name Styrofoam, expanded polystyrene does not biodegrade, meaning it breaks into smaller pieces, which is dangerous for wildlife. It is also a polluter in the Chesapeake Bay, dangerous for both marine and human life.
“This ban will go a long way to keeping EPS foam out of the Bay,” said Jacqueline Guild, director of the City’s Office of Environmental Policy.
Similar bills have passed in Anne Arundel County with the ban beginning October 1. In Maryland, the first state in the U.S. to ban the product, the ban goes into effect July 1, 2020.