Tell NYC City Council: Reject the Plastic Industry’s Polystyrene Pollution Bill

When:

May 12, 2017: 12:30PM to 3:00PM

Where:

New York City Hall, City Hall Park, New York, NY 10007 map

Rally on the steps of City Hall – Friday May 12th, 12:30PM

We encourage you to attend the May 12th hearing and testify against the industry’s “recycling bill” and in favor of a ban on foam food and beverage containers in New York City. There will be a rally shortly before the hearing on the steps of City Hall – please come to show your opposition against the bill.

Background:
White polystrene foam is a brittle material that breaks into tiny pieces when discarded. As a result, foam coffee cups and food clamshells litter our streets and parks and enter our waterways, where they endanger marine life. The material is a first-class environmental nuisance and can not be cost-effectively recycled. For that reason, communities across the country — from San Francisco and Seattle to Washington D.C. and Ulster County (NY) — have banned the use of polystyrene foam food and beverage containers, encouraging the switch to more environmentally friendly containers.

Nevertheless, the plastics foam industry — desperate to maintain its market share — has engaged in an intensive campaign to oppose NYC legislative and administrative efforts to ban foam containers. To that end, the industry has recently advanced legislation in the City Council that would require “recycling” of polystyrene foam in the city’s recycling program. But as the New York City Sanitation Commissioner has concluded, and as demonstrated by extensive research by NRDC and our environmental and solid waste partners, it is not possible to recycle dirty polystyrene foam in a way that is “economically feasible” and “environmentally effective.

The plastics industry has recently advanced legislation in the City Council that would require “recycling” of polystyrene foam in the city’s recycling program. But as the New York City Sanitation Commissioner has concluded, and as demonstrated by extensive research by NRDC and our environmental and solid waste partners, it is not possible to recycle dirty polystyrene foam in a way that is “economically feasible” and “environmentally effective.” Thus, such foam should not be defined as recyclable in the City’s Administrative Code.