The Anne Arundel County Council voted to ban polystyrene plastic foam containers, giving restaurants until January 1, 2020 to use their supply before switching to an alternative! This was made possible by fantastic collaboration across a broad spectrum of stakeholders leading to a bipartisan 4-3 vote for the bill. Bravo! We hope that the County Executive does not block this. Read testimony given by Rick Kissel, Sierra Club Anne Arundel Group Vice Chair to the Anne Arundel County Council
Anne Arundel Group
Maryland Chapter
May 21, 2018
Mayor Gavin Buckley
Annapolis City Council
Annapolis City Hall
160 Duke of Gloucester Street
Annapolis MD 21401
Dear Mayor Buckley and members of the Annapolis City Council,
RE: Sierra Club support for O-22-18, Ban on Expanded Polystyrene
Foam Food Containers in Annapolis
The Anne Arundel Group of the Maryland Sierra Club strongly supports bill O-22-18, which would establish a city-wide ban on expanded polystyrene (EPS) food containers. These products are harmful to the environment – particularly the marine environment – and are not recyclable or compostable. Increasing numbers of businesses no longer use them and have switched to alternative disposable food service products. Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties have successfully banned the use and sale of EPS foam food containers, with no significant impact on businesses or their customers. The City of Baltimore passed a ban earlier this year that will go into effect in 2019. No Maryland jobs will be lost from banning EPS food containers – none are being manufactured in the state – but the recyclable and compostable alternatives are being produced and will likely experience an increase in sales and jobs as more jurisdictions ban EPS foam containers.
We ask that you consider the following arguments and evidence in support of this bill. .
EPS litter is ubiquitous and especially harmful to the marine environment. Because EPS foam is inexpensive, lightweight, and nearly indestructible, it is a pervasive form of litter worldwide, and an increasingly serious environmental problem. Sometimes called “white pollution,” EPS litters our land, our rivers and streams, and the oceans. It breaks down into increasingly smaller pieces, which become a garbage soup floating on the ocean surface, virtually impossible to clean up. In some locations, there is almost six times as much plastic as plankton, absorbing contaminants like oil and other toxins. In Anne Arundel County, with more than 500 miles of shoreline, and Annapolis, the sailing capital of America, wind and runoff can quickly transport EPS litter into the Chesapeake Bay, where it directly affects marine life. The alarming increase in ocean plastic pollution has had enormous impact on nearly 300 animal species worldwide, including 44% of seabird species, 43% of marine mammal species, and 86% percent of sea turtles. Marine animals mistake it for food, with nearly 100 percent mortality from ingestion, starvation, and suffocation.
EPS food containers are not commonly recycled or composted. They are not accepted by the Annapolis or Anne Arundel County curbside recycling programs. Recycling is not economical because EPS is more than 95 percent air and takes up a lot of space in relation to the amount and value of the product. Further, EPS food containers are usually contaminated by food, which renders them unrecyclable or in need of processing before they can be recycled. The EPS Industry Alliance has identified only seven recycling drop-off centers for EPS foam recycling in Maryland, one of which is behind their office in Crofton (see Annex 1). Volunteers who visited these sites found that either they did not accept food containers or would only accept food containers not contaminated with food. They mainly accept blocks of foam packaging.
Virtually all EPS food containers that are captured in the waste stream are landfilled or incinerated. The 2016 Maryland Statewide Waste Characterization Study found that EPS comprises 1.5 percent of municipal solid waste (MSW) by weight generated statewide and 4.5 percent of MSW that “is not current/widely recyclable” – an estimated 56,761 tons. But the impact of EPS on landfills is many times greater because of its high volume (see Annex 2.) Thus, foam food containers from the Annapolis waste stream are helping to fill the Millersville Landfill, where 7 of 9 cells have already been capped. The buried containers will remain in perpetuity without breaking down, after having been used only once!
An EPS food container ban in Annapolis will help Maryland achieve its zero waste goal of overall waste diversion of 85 percent by 2040. Maryland’s 2014 Zero Waste Plan advocates banning products that are economically or technologically infeasible to recycle or that are not typically accepted through main recycling channels. The zero waste goals are an important part of the state’s Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Plan; their achievement contributes 1.48 million metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent reductions by 2020.
Alternatives to EPS food containers are already widely available and in use. Evidence from Prince George’s County and Baltimore City shows that alternatives to EPS food containers were already in wide use before their bans were passed.
In March 2015, the Prince George’s Sierra Club surveyed 186 randomly-selected restaurants, fast food establishments, and carry-outs countywide (Annex 3, Figure 3a). While three-quarters of them had at least one EPS food container, the establishments were simultaneously using other types of containers, including recyclable plastic (81%), compostable paper (63%), and recyclable aluminum (20%, Annex 3, Figure 3b). Only 3% of these businesses were exclusively using EPS food containers before the ban.
A late 2017 survey by the Baltimore Waterfront Partnership of 56 restaurants in their business improvement district found that only 5% were using exclusively foam containers; 30% had a mix of foam and alternatives and 64% were foam free.
Restaurant and fast-food chains operating in Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties have already developed recyclable or compostable alternatives with their corporate logos on them (see the photo below). Why can’t they also be used in Annapolis and Anne Arundel?
Bans on EPS food containers are already working in Maryland’s two largest counties. Bans on the provision and sale of EPS food containers went into effect in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties in 2016. The launch dates were preceded by information campaigns to educate businesses about the reasons for the bans and the availability of alternative products. Businesses were given 12-15 months after passage to draw down their stocks. Enforcement in both counties is complaint-driven and also monitored by public health inspectors in the course of their normal work. Businesses using foam after the bans went into effect are given warnings and additional time to draw down their stock.
Compliance with the bans in both counties is high and increasing. Schools and hospitals in have replaced their foam containers with alternatives. Sierra Club volunteers in Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties have been going door-to-door in shopping centers, educating businesses about the ban and monitoring compliance.
Among the 465 businesses contacted in Prince George’s County, the compliance rate in spring 2017 (8-10 months after the ban went into effect) was 76% (Annex 4, Figures 4a-b). Following the face-to-face education with businesses, compliance rose to 91%. Most of the remaining non-compliant businesses are in the process of transitioning.
Among the 328 businesses contacted by Sierra Club volunteers in Montgomery County in winter 2017-18, overall compliance stands at 86 percent, and the compliance rate in Gaithersburg – with a separate municipal ban – is 90 percent (Annex 4, Figures 4c-d). No businesses have been fined.
The Sierra Club’s monitoring has found that the main reason for non-compliance is lack of information. Turnover in businesses, ownership, and management needs to be anticipated; some degree of educational outreach is necessary on a continuing basis. No businesses have been fined in either county; all businesses have complied after inspectors’ visits.
Conclusion
EPS foam food containers have particularly harmful impacts on the marine environment and are incompatible with Maryland’s zero waste goals. There are already many affordable recyclable or compostable alternatives available and in wide use. Bans on EPS food containers have been successfully implemented in counties with a third of Maryland’s population, with no significant adverse impact on businesses or consumers.
On behalf of the Executive Committee of Anne Arundel Sierra Club Group, representing more than 1,700 members in Anne Arundel County, please act favorably on this bill to ban the provision and sale of EPS foam food containers in Annapolis.
Sincerely,
Rick Kissel, Vice-Chair
Anne Arundel Sierra Club Group
.
Annexes
1. EPS foam drop-off recycling centers
2. EPS foam is lightweight and high volume
3. Baseline use of EPS foam food containers and alternatives before the Prince George’s County ban was approved
4. Compliance with EPS foam bans in Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties
Annex 1: EPS foam drop-off recycling centers
The website for the EPS Industry Alliance maps seven recycling centers for EPS foam in Maryland, with symbols indicating that they accept both food packaging and foam transportation packaging (large blocks of foam). Volunteers visited all seven sites and took photos of the containers and signage.
The EPS Industry Alliance offers the following advice on drop-off recycling of EPS foam:
“The majority of EPS recycling locations listed are intended to serve as outlets for EPS packaging only. Each EPS collection site has distinct criteria regarding the types of material they accept. Food service EPS materials are usually NOT accepted.”
This conclusion was borne out by the volunteers. To the extent that recycling of EPS is taking place at these centers, it is for the most part large blocks of foam used for packaging. The drop-off centers either do not accept EPS food containers or only accept them if they are not contaminated with food.
One of the seven drop-off centers for recycling EPS is in Crofton, MD at the EPS Industry Alliance, 1298 Cronson Blvd, Crofton, MD 21114 (800-607-3772) As can be seen by the signage, it does not accept food packaging or packing peanuts.
Annex 2: EPS foam is lightweight and high volume
Most statistics on the composition of litter and waste measure it by weight, but this understates the contribution of expanded polystyrene foam because it is lightweight – about 95 percent air – and high volume. To illustrate, the photo below compares the volume of 8 ounces of red polystyrene plastic cups (on the left) with 8 ounces of expanded polystyrene foam cups (on the right).
Annex 3: Baseline use of EPS foam food containers and alternatives before the Prince George’s County ban was approved (March 2015)
Figure 3A. Random sample of 186 restaurants, fast food, and take-out
food service establishments surveyed
Figure 3B. Percent of food service businesses with foam food containers and alternativesa before the ban (n=186 businesses)
a. Only 3 percent of businesses were using exclusively foam food containers.
Annex 4: Compliance with foam bans in shopping centers in
Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties
Figure 4A. Prince George’s County: 45 shopping centers with 465 businesses
educated and monitored for compliance with the foam ban
Figure 4B: Compliance with the foam ban rose to >90% after
face-to-face education by Sierra Club volunteers
Figure 4C. Montgomery County: 38 shopping centers with 328 businesses
educated and monitored for compliance with the foam ban
Figure 4D. Foam ban compliance by type of business in Montgomery County
(38 shopping centers, 328 businesses), Winter 2017-18
