In an effort to rein in marine pollution, Maine passed a bill banning food containers made from Styrofoam on Tuesday, making it the first state to enact such legislation, according to Natural Resources Council of Maine.
Details: The law will take effect in 2021 and applies to single-use food and drink foam containers often used by restaurants and retailers. Hospitals, food distributors and state-funded meals-on-wheels programs are exempt from having to eliminate the polystyrene containers, per the AP.
- Connecticut, Maryland, Oregon and Vermont have similar bans in the works, and individual communities like Berkeley, California, have passed bans, some going back to the 1980s.
- A handful of businesses have vowed to or already gone through the process of discontinuing the use of foam cups, including Dunkin’ and McDonald’s, the AP reports.
- Last December, the European Union banned some single-use plastics.
