Deerfield restricts polystyrene food packaging

Deerfield Beach has joined a growing number of cities in banning or restricting plastic foam food containers as concern grows about what’s piling up in landfills, oceans and beaches.

Because polystyrene doesn’t biodegrade likeorganic material does, the foam material has become a target for institutions and cities looking to minimize the harm to the environment. When the law takes effect Oct. 1, Deerfield will ban the material fromcity eventsandcity vendors.

They will be joining a handful of Miami-Dade cities and Miami-Dade County in restricting or outright prohibiting the material that floats if youthrow it into thewater.

Theordinancewould go further if it weren’t for a state law that prevents cities from outright banning it, saidViceMayor Joe Miller.

“Billions of these cups go into our landfill each year,” Miller said. “Obviously, this little ordinance is not going to make a dent in theworld pollution of Styrofoam, but it’s a statement that we don’t want to promote polluting material.”

Plasticfoamis oftenwrongly called Styrofoam, the brand name of one manufacturer.

Hallandale Beach city commissioners in 2015 proposed banning it from the beach, but the effort ultimately failed.

In Deerfield, when Miller first introduced the ban in2015, it would have prohibited any city restaurant from using the material, often associated with coffee cups and clam-shaped, take-out food containers.

But in2016, the state Legislature passed a lawthat prohibits municipalities from banning businesses’ use of it.

Deerfield last year tried to