Throw out Styrofoam
Judge oks ban on eco-unfriendly stuff
SAY SEE YA LATER, Styrofoam.
A judge ruled in favor of the city in its years-long effort to ban plastic foam containers.
The ruling Friday in Manhattan Supreme Court means the city can take steps to put in effect a 2013 law calling on restaurants to replace environmentally unfriendly polystyrene containers with more sustainable to-go cups and packaging.
“This ruling clears the path towards implementing a ban on food service foam products that will protect New York City’s environment and our recycling program,” the city Law Department said in a statement.
Judge Margaret Chan’s 11-page ruling denied an appeal by restaurant lobbyists and foam manufacturers who argued that the current containers are easy to recycle.
Chan decided Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia’s 2017 finding that it is unrealistic for the city to recycle polystyrene containers was “rational” and “painstakingly studied.”
Barring an appeal, the city can now move forward with planned public education efforts and a sixmonth grace period. By 2019, restaurants and food vendors will be prohibited from using foam containers.
Lawyer Randy Mastro — repping the Restaurant Action Alliance of New York City and a coalition of restaurant owners and foam manufacturers — said in a statement that his clients are reviewing their legal options.
Councilman Brad Lander, a longtime proponent of the ban, applauded Chan’s decision.
“This is great news. It means that we don’t need to pass new legislation to ban Styrofoam,” he told the Daily News on Saturday. “The fact is that we are choking our oceans and there are steps we can take as a city to do our part.”
The foam ban comes as the city mulls other environmentally friendly acts that would cut back on plastic products.
A recently introduced bill would bar disposable plastic straws. Last year the City Council voted to put a 5-cent fee on plastic and paper bags, but was blocked by the state Legislature and Gov. Cuomo from implementing the law.
Eateries that rely on foam containers are unsure how the long-discussed restriction will play out.
Replacement materials don’t work as well, said Hilgay Sudlow, who has worked for 10 years at Original Vegetarian and Seafood Restaurant in Crown Heights.
“The food leaks. The gravy leaks out of it,” said Sudlow.
“Keep Styrofoam,” she said, before offering a more measured response. “For my business it’s bad, but for the environment it’s good.”
Cuomo later threw his support behind banning plastic bags outright, but the plan has not advanced in Albany.