In the late 20th and early 21st century, there has been a global movement towards the phase-out of polystyrene foam as a single use plastic (SUP). Early bans of polystyrene foam intended to eliminate ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), formerly a major component.
Expanded polystyrene, often termed Styrofoam, is a contributor of microplastics from both land and maritime activities. Polystyrene is not biodegradeable but is susceptible to photo-oxidation, and degrades slowly in the ocean as microplastic marine debris. Animals do not recognize polystyrene foam as an artificial material, may mistake it for food, and show toxic effects after substantial exposure.
Full or partial bans of expanded and polystyrene foam commonly target disposable food packaging. Such bans have been enacted through national legislation globally, and also at sub-national or local levels in many countries.
China banned expanded polystyrene takeout/takeaway containers and tableware in 1999, but later revoked the policy in 2013 amidst industry lobbying. [1] Haiti banned foam food containers in 2012 to reduce waste in canals and roadside drains. In 2019, the European Parliament voted 560 to 35 to ban all food and beverage containers made from expanded polystyrene throughout the European Union member states. [2] Canada amended its 'Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999' in 2022 to prohibit foodservice ware made of expanded or extruded polystyrene, and also polyvinyl chloride, black colored plastics, or oxo-degraded plastics. [3]
Country | Legislation | Year | References |
---|---|---|---|
![]() | Ban | 2023 | [4] |
![]() | Ban | 2017–2019 | [5] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2020 | [7] |
![]() | Ban | 2020 | [8] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] [9] |
![]() | Ban | 2019 | [10] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2023 | [11] |
![]() | Ban | 2022 | [12] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [13] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2018 | [14] |
![]() | Ban | 2022 | [15] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [16] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] [17] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] [18] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2018 | [19] |
![]() | Ban | 2016 | [20] |
![]() | Ban | 2012 | [21] |
![]() | Ban | 2024 | [22] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [23] |
![]() | Ban | 2022 | [24] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] [25] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2020 | [26] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [27] |
![]() | Ban | 2022 | [28] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2017 | [29] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [30] |
![]() | Ban | 2020 | [31] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [32] |
![]()
| Ban | 2021 (NL) | [6] |
![]()
| Ban | 2022 (NZ)
| [38] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [39] |
![]() | Ban | 2018 | [40] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [41] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2024 | [42] |
![]() | Ban | 2019 | [43] |
![]() | Ban | 2017 | [44] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [40] [45] |
![]() | Ban | 2017 | [46] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [47] |
![]() | Ban | 2019 | [48] |
![]() | Ban | 2021 | [6] |
![]() | Ban | 2022 | [49] |
![]() | Ban | 2022 | [50] |
![]() | Ban | 2019 | [51] |
![]() | Ban | 2019 | [52] |
![]()
| Ban | [57] | |
![]() | Ban | 2018 | [40] |
![]() | Ban | 2017 | [58] |
In Australia , over 97% of the population live in an area that bans expanded polystyrene. Between 2021-2023, the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, and Western Australia enacted bans. [59] [60] [61] [62] [63] [64]
Nigeria's states of Lagos and Abia introduced bans in January 2024, with an initial transition period of three weeks. [65] The state of Oyo introduced a ban in March 2024. [66]
Municipal bans in the Philippines are in effect in Bailen, [67] Boracay, [68] Caloocan, [69] Cordova, [70] El Nido, [71] Las Piñas, [72] Makati, [73] Mandaluyong City, [74] Muntinlupa, [75] Quezon City, [76] and Tacloban. [77]
In the United Arab Emirates , the municipal government of Dubai announced a ban affecting polystyrene in 2025, and all single-use plastic food containers in 2026. [78]
As of March 2024, 11 U.S. states and two territories have passed statewide legislation to explicitly ban polystyrene foam:
In Hawaii , a de facto ban is in effect after every county enacted polystyrene bans except state-administered Kalawao County. Bans in Hawaii County took effect July 2019, followed by Kauai County, Maui County, and Honolulu County in 2022. [92] [93] [94] Maui separately banned polystyrene foam coolers, and the sale or rental of disposable bodyboards in 2022. [95] [96]
In California , the legislature passed SB54 in June 2022 as the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act. [97] The law codifies extended producer responsibility (EPR) requirements for plastics, including a requirement that polystyrene be banned if recycling rates do not reach 25% by 2025. Recycling rates averaged 6% at passage, leading some to call the law a 'de facto ban', anticipating an inability to comply within three years. [98] [99]
Local bans have been enacted elsewhere, including in many large and small cities within the US:
As of August 2023, proposed legislation banning polystyrene has passed at least one legislative chamber in two states and one territory. In Connecticut, SB 118 passed the state Senate in April 2022, but died when the session ended. [133] In Illinois, the state House passed HB2376 on March 21, 2023. [134]
The territory of the Northern Mariana Islands passed HB21-89 in its House of Representatives in 2020. [135]
In September 2021, Florida introduced a proposed phaseout of polystyrene foam food packaging. [136] Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried, whose Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services oversees food safety in Florida, proposed a rule to phase out polystyrene in 40,000 grocery stores, food markets, convenience stores, and gas stations that the agency regulates in Florida. The Florida Legislature will consider the proposed rule in 2022. [137]
State / Territory | Year Enacted | Year Implemented | Details | References |
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | 2024 | 2024 | Covers all polystyrene foam containers. Affected products unsold six months after the law's implementation may be subject to confiscation. | A.S.C.A. § 25.23 [138] |
![]() | 2021 | 2024 | Covers ready-to-eat food containers (including hinged containers, plates, bowls, cups, trays) from retail food establishments. | CRS 25-17-506 [139] [140] [141] |
![]() | 2023 | 2025 | Covers food service packaging (including hinged or lidded containers, plates, cups, bowls, trays) from food establishments including restaurants, grocery stores, and ice manufacturers. Excludes containers, including coolers and ice chests, when used for raw meat, seafood, eggs, fruits, or vegetables. | 16 Del. C. § 3001Q [142] |
![]() | 2014 | 2016 | Covers food service products (including containers, plates, hot/cold cups) from food service businesses, including restaurants, cafes, grocery stores, food trucks, and cafeterias. Includes meat/vegetable trays, egg cartons, and other polystyrene items used to sell or provide food. Ban expanded in 2021 to include sale of packing peanuts and foam coolers. | D.C. Reg. § 21-2301 [143] & D.C.ACT23-223 [144] |
![]() | 2019 | 2021 | Includes food containers from retail food and eating establishments, factories, farmers' markets, and retirement/nursing homes. Covers items packed outside Maine, but shipped to the state. Polystyrene raw meat/seafood trays and egg cartons banned starting 2025. Foam coolers for seafood exempt. | 38 M.R.S.A. § 15-A [145] |
![]() | 2019 | 2020 | No person may sell, and no business/school may sell or serve polystyrene food containers (containers, plates, hot/cold cups, trays). Includes egg cartons (except if shipped empty into Maryland to pack eggs, or if eggs are packed in the state for Maryland consumers). Excludes containers for raw meat/seafood, nonfoam polystyrene, or food prepackaged in polystyrene foam. | Md. Code Ann., Env. § 9-2201 to 9–2207 [146] |
![]() | 2020 | 2022 | Includes food containers and serviceware (containers, plates, hot/cold cups, trays, cutlery). Includes foam egg cartons. Containers for raw meat/seafood, cups 2oz or less, long-handled polystyrene spoons, and food prepackaged in polystyrene foam banned starting 2024. | Title 13:1E-99.126 et al. [147] |
![]() | 2020 | 2022 | Includes food containers and serviceware (clamshell, bowl, carton, lid, plate, trays) from any food service provider, retail food store, deli, grocer, hospital, adult care/nursing home, or school. Includes packing peanuts/loose fill, sold by any manufacturer or store. Excludes containers for raw meat/seafood, food prepackaged in polystyrene foam, and rigid polystyrene. | N.Y. Consol. Laws § 30-43-B, Art. 27, Tit. 30 (2020) [148] |
![]() | 2023 | 2025 | Prohibits the sale, offer for sale, distribution, or use of single-use polystyrene coolers, packing peanuts, or containers for serving prepared food. Excludes use for raw egg, meat, fish, or produce. Provisions would take effect starting January 1, 2025. | ORS § 36A.459 [149] |
![]() | 2023 | 2025 | Prohibits the use of disposable polystyrene serviceware for prepared food, such as containers, cups, lids, or stirrers. Excludes coolers or ice chests. Provisions take effect starting January 1, 2025. | R.I. Gen. Laws § 21–27.3-2 [150] [151] |
![]() | 2019 | 2021 | Includes food containers (plates, trays, hot/cold cups), and foam egg cartons. Excludes containers for raw meat/seafood, food prepackaged in polystyrene foam, and food packaged outside Vermont. | 10 V.S.A. § 6696 [152] |
![]() | 2021 | 2028 | Includes any food containers for retail food establishments. Implementation by small businesses takes effect 2030. | Va. Code Ann. § 10.1–1424.3 [153] & 2022 HB30, Item 377#1c [154] |
![]() | 2021 | 2023 | Sale of packing peanuts/void fill banned starting June 2023. Beginning June 2024, includes any food containers (plates, bowls, trays, clamshell containers, hot/cold cups) and portable foam coolers. Excludes containers for raw meat/seafood, eggs, and produce. Excludes coolers for drugs or federally-defined medical/biological materials, or for shipping perishables from a wholesale retail establishment. | RCW 70A.245.070 [155] |
Polystyrene (PS) is a synthetic polymer made from monomers of the aromatic hydrocarbon styrene. Polystyrene can be solid or foamed. General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. It is a poor barrier to air and water vapor and has a relatively low melting point. Polystyrene is one of the most widely used plastics, with the scale of its production being several million tonnes per year. Polystyrene is naturally transparent, but can be colored with colorants. Uses include protective packaging, containers, lids, bottles, trays, tumblers, disposable cutlery, in the making of models, and as an alternative material for phonograph records.
A thermoplastic, or thermosoftening plastic, is any plastic polymer material that becomes pliable or moldable at a certain elevated temperature and solidifies upon cooling.
A drinking straw is a utensil that is intended to carry the contents of a beverage to one's mouth. Disposable straws are commonly made from plastics. However, environmental concerns related to plastic pollution and new regulation have led to rise in reusable and biodegradable straws. Following a rise in regulation and public concern, some companies have even voluntarily banned or reduced the number of plastic straws used. Alternative straws are often made of reusable materials like silicone or metal or alternative disposable and biodegradable materials like paper, cardboard, pasta, or bamboo.
Plastic shopping bags, carrier bags, or plastic grocery bags are a type of plastic bag used as shopping bags and made from various kinds of plastic. In use by consumers worldwide since the 1960s, these bags are sometimes called single-use bags, referring to carrying items from a store to a home. However, it is rare for bags to be worn out after single use and in the past some retailers incentivised customers to reuse 'single use' bags by offering loyalty points to those doing so. Even after they are no longer used for shopping, reuse of these bags for storage or trash is common, and modern plastic shopping bags are increasingly recyclable or compostable - at the Co-op for example. In recent decades, numerous countries have introduced legislation restricting the provision of plastic bags, in a bid to reduce littering and plastic pollution.
A plastic bag, poly bag, or pouch is a type of container made of thin, flexible, plastic film, nonwoven fabric, or plastic textile. Plastic bags are used for containing and transporting goods such as foods, produce, powders, ice, magazines, chemicals, and waste. It is a common form of packaging.
A coffee cup is a container, a cup, for serving coffee and coffee-based drinks. There are three major types: conventional cups used with saucers, mugs used without saucers, and disposable cups. Cups and mugs generally have a handle. Disposable paper cups used for take-out sometimes have fold-out handles, but are more often used with an insulating coffee cup sleeve.
A disposable is a product designed for a single use after which it is recycled or is disposed as solid waste. The term is also sometimes used for products that may last several months to distinguish from similar products that last indefinitely. The word "disposables" is not to be confused with the word "consumables", which is widely used in the mechanical world. For example, welders consider welding rods, tips, nozzles, gas, etc. to be "consumables", as they last only a certain amount of time before needing to be replaced. Consumables are needed for a process to take place, such as inks for printing and welding rods for welding, while disposable products are items that can be discarded after they become damaged or are no longer useful.
Insulated shipping containers are a type of packaging used to ship temperature sensitive products such as foods, pharmaceuticals, organs, blood, biologic materials, vaccines and chemicals. They are used as part of a cold chain to help maintain product freshness and efficacy. The term can also refer to insulated intermodal containers or insulated swap bodies.
A foam food container is a form of disposable food packaging for various foods and beverages, such as processed instant noodles, raw meat from supermarkets, ice cream from ice cream parlors, cooked food from delicatessens or food stalls, or beverages like "coffee to go". They are also commonly used to serve takeout food from restaurants, and are also available by request for diners who wish to take home the remainder of their meal. The foam is a good thermal insulator, making the container easy to carry as well as keeping the food at the temperature it had when filled into the container, whether hot or cold.
Commodity plastics or commodity polymers are plastics produced in high volumes for applications where exceptional material properties are not needed. In contrast to engineering plastics, commodity plastics tend to be inexpensive to produce and exhibit relatively weak mechanical properties. Some examples of commodity plastics are polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, and poly(methyl methacrylate). Globally, the most widely used thermoplastics include both polypropylene and polyethylene. Products made from commodity plastics include disposable plates, disposable cups, photographic and magnetic tape, clothing, reusable bags, medical trays, and seeding trays.
Disposable food packaging comprises disposable products often found in fast-food restaurants, take-out restaurants and catering establishments. Typical products are foam food containers, plates, bowls, cups, utensils, doilies and tray papers. These products can be made from a number of materials including plastics, paper, bioresins, wood and bamboo.
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptability, plus a wide range of other properties, such as being lightweight, durable, flexible, and inexpensive to produce, has led to its widespread use. Plastics typically are made through human industrial systems. Most modern plastics are derived from fossil fuel-based chemicals like natural gas or petroleum; however, recent industrial methods use variants made from renewable materials, such as corn or cotton derivatives.
A plastic bag ban or charge is a law that restricts the use of lightweight plastic bags at retail establishments. In the early 21st century, there has been a global trend towards the phase-out of lightweight plastic bags. Single-use plastic shopping bags, commonly made from low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plastic, have traditionally been given for free to customers by stores when purchasing goods: the bags have long been considered a convenient, cheap, and hygienic way of transporting items. Problems associated with plastic bags include use of non-renewable resources, difficulties during disposal, and environmental impacts. Concurrently with the reduction in lightweight plastic bags, shops have introduced reusable shopping bags.
Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. Plastics that act as pollutants are categorized by size into micro-, meso-, or macro debris. Plastics are inexpensive and durable, making them very adaptable for different uses; as a result, manufacturers choose to use plastic over other materials. However, the chemical structure of most plastics renders them resistant to many natural processes of degradation and as a result they are slow to degrade. Together, these two factors allow large volumes of plastic to enter the environment as mismanaged waste which persists in the ecosystem and travels throughout food webs.
Bottled water bans have been proposed and enacted in several municipalities and campuses everywhere over such concerns as resource wastage, transportation emissions, plastic litter, and damage to affected aquifers.
Plastic containers are containers made exclusively or partially of plastic. Plastic containers are ubiquitous either as single-use or reuseable/durable plastic cups, plastic bottles, plastic bags, foam food containers, Tupperware, plastic tubes, clamshells, cosmetic containers, up to intermediate bulk containers and various types of containers made of corrugated plastic. The entire packaging industry heavily depends on plastic containers or containers with some plastic content, besides paperboard and other materials. Food storage nowadays relies mainly on plastic food storage containers.
Recycling in Australia is a widespread, and comprehensive part of waste management in Australia, with 60% of all waste collected being recycled. Recycling is collected from households, commercial businesses, industries and construction. Despite its prominence, household recycling makes up only a small part (13%) of Australia's total recycling. It generally occurs through kerbside recycling collections such as the commingled recycling bin and food/garden organics recycling bin, drop-off and take-back programs, and various other schemes. Collection and management of household recycling typically falls to local councils, with private contractors collecting commercial, industrial and construction recycling. In addition to local council regulations, legislation and overarching policies are implemented and managed by the state and federal governments.
There is no national plastic bag fee or ban currently in effect in the United States. However, the states of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, United States Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico have banned disposable bags. Over 200 counties and municipalities have enacted ordinances either imposing a fee on plastic bags or banning them outright, including all counties in Hawaii.
France's anti-waste law for a circular economy was passed in an effort to eliminate improper disposal of waste as well as limit excessive waste. This law is part of Europe's larger environmental activism efforts and builds on previous laws the country has passed.
Plastic bans are laws that prohibit the use of polymers manufactured from petroleum or other fossil fuels, given the pollution and threat to biodiversity that they cause. A growing number of countries have instituted plastic bag bans, and a ban on single-use plastic, and are looking to spread bans to all plastic packaging, plastic clothing (such as polyester and acrylic fiber, or any other form of unnecessary plastic that could be replaced with an easily biodegradeable, non-fossil-fuel or non-polluting alternative. Plastics biodegrade over a long period of time, and may not biodegrade fully leaving traces of microplastics, ranging from 450 years for a PET plastic bottle to thousands "never" for polypropylene-based products, including food containers.