马里兰州对泡沫聚苯乙烯食品和饮料包装的禁令已生效,这使其成为美国第一个禁止使用容器的州。
The legislation comes from Democratic DelegateBrooke Lierman, the main sponsor of the House bill, and Senator Cheryl Kagan, the main Senate sponsor. Although the law passed in 2019 and was originally slated to take effect on July 1, it was pushed back to October 1 due to COVID-19.
The law specifically targets Expanded Polystyrene (EPS), a petroleum-based non-biodegradable foam which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) consider a possible human carcinogen.The ban includes packaging such as cups, plates, carryout containers, and trays.
The EPA estimates3 million tons of EPS每年在美国生产,有230万吨的垃圾填埋场。他们报告说这可以negative impacts关于人类健康,野生动植物,环境和经济,通过污染和EPS的潜力500 years to decompose.
“EPS foam is really the most damaging form of plastic packaging that exists right now,” Lierman tells Food Tank. “It breaks into a million little pieces, and so it’s nearly impossible to clean up from our riverways and in our neighborhoods when it starts to break down.”
Lierman希望她的社区了解对环境不利的包装最终会造成伤害消费者。她告诉食品坦克说:“我们正在为垃圾填埋场付费,清理垃圾,并以较大的规模来支付由创造这些产品的塑料厂所造成的污染。”w88优德老虎机平台
全国提议的泡沫禁令已经看到主要推动力来自食品和饮料行业。两家公司认为,替代包装的成本比EPS容器的成本高得多。
但是Lierman说,在马里兰州,许多当地司法管辖区已经禁止EPS包装,这使许多泡沫产品比其他选择更昂贵。和market trends showthat consumers and producers are looking for more sustainable alternatives.
Lierman reports that Maryland’s bill had massive support from local businesses. And while COVID-19 has破坏了餐饮业根据国家餐厅协会的说法,她说她没有听说过任何想返回EPS包装的企业。
“This was the very first step in dealing with a larger and long term problem that we need to address in a holistic way very soon,” Lierman tells Food Tank. By 2050, the estimates say there’ll be more plastic in the ocean than fish by weight. I don’t want to live in that world and I don’t want my kids to have to live in that world either.”
Photo Courtesy of Unsplash.com