On July 1, 2020 Maryland became the first in the nation to implement a statewide ban expanded polystyrene (EPS) food containers. The new law bans the sale of EPS food service products – foam cups, plates, bowls, clamshells, trays, and other food or beverage containers – and prohibits food service businesses and schools from selling or serving food or beverages in these containers.[1]
EPS foam food containers are among the ten most common items collected in beach cleanups. Inexpensive, lightweight, and nearly indestructible, they are blown or washed into waterways and the oceans, where they break into ever smaller pieces. These microplastic pieces absorb toxic chemicals and are easily mistaken for food by marine life, injuring and killing fish, seabirds, and marine mammals. Once the containers have broken into microplastics, they are nearly impossible to clean up.
EPS food service containers are not conventionally recyclable. They are very difficult to clean and physically fragile, contaminating other more valuable materials when put into recycling bins at the curb. Most importantly, markets don’t exist for recycled food service foam.
Even if EPS food service containers could be recycled, littered containers would continue to harm wildlife and the marine environment. EPS food service containers are easily replaced with a variety of recyclable and compostable alternatives already in wide use.
EPS food containers have already been banned in Anne Arundel County (February 2020), Baltimore City (October 2019), Montgomery County (January 2016), and Prince George’s County (July 2016). Surveys of businesses by the Sierra Club in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties show that compliance is high among businesses aware of the ban.
Responsibility for implementation of the new statewide law is shared between the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), charged with a public information campaign to businesses and schools, and a unit of county government, such as a county health or environmental department, charged with enforcement. A temporary waiver is available to businesses based on undue hardship or practical difficulties not experienced by other businesses.
Help get the word out on the new foam ban!
- Handout - Maryland’s Ban on EPS Food Service Containers: What you need to know
- Local government contacts on the foam ban as of 11/13/20
- Webinar and presentation for counties on rolling out the foam ban
- Websites for local bans in Anne Arundel County, City of Baltimore, Montgomery County, and Prince George’s County
Other resources
- MDE’s EPS foam ban website
- Sierra Club webinar on the original bill [2]
- Sierra Club testimony
- The bill as amended and passed [3]
[1] In light of the closures during spring 2020 due the coronavirus epidemic, the deadline for food service businesses and schools to use up their stocks of EPS food containers was extended to October 1st by executive order of Gov. Hogan. However, the ban on retail sale of EPS food containers went into effect on July 1, 2020, per the legislation.
[2] The webinar is on the original bill. It was subsequently amended before passage to delay the start date to July 1, 2020 and enforcement was made the responsibility of a “unit of county government,” including a local health department or a local environment department, plus other edits.
[3] In addition, during the 2020 legislative session, the provisions for egg cartons were amended. See SB840.