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Which states and/or counties have enacted, or are planning to enact, a ban on foam/styrofoam packaging? Focused specifically on foam egg carton packaging.
Thank you for your question about the states and/or counties that have enacted or plan on enacting a ban on foam/styrofoam packaging, with a focus on foam egg carton packaging. The short version is that there are counties/cities in 12 states with a ban on styrofoam packaging, and the ban on styrofoam extends to egg carton packaging in all the counties/cities with a styrofoam ban except in New York. A few counties in Hawaii, Pennsylvanian, and Illinois are currently considering a ban, in addition to two more counties in Massachusetts.
Below you will find a deep dive of this research.
METHODOLOGY AND DEEP DIVE
I started by searching for counties and cities that have banned foam or styrofoam packaging. After searching extensively I found 2 such lists (List A and List B). I then conducted an extra search to see if there are states not on any of the precompiled lists that may have enacted the ban. Next, I looked up the ban on each state to see if the ban includes egg carton packaging specifically.
Although the ban on egg foam carton is not always specifically mentioned, I found that the definition of styrofoam adopted while explaining the ban includes egg foam carton in all states that have presently banned styrofoam. Generally, the bill enacting the ban mentions the ban on food containers, plates, hot and cold beverage cups, meat and vegetable trays and egg cartons made of expanded polystyrene. However, a judge in New York City overturned the city's ban on plastic foam containers and packing peanuts, ruling that they could be recycled. Hence, I have omitted cities in New York with styrofoam ban from the list below, however, some other polystyrene materials remain banned in New York.
Polystyrene comes in many forms and can be identified by resin code #6. It is found in shipping materials like packaging peanuts and protective packaging, egg cartons, coolers, cups, plates, takeout containers, yogurt cups, food clamshells, CD and DVD cases and film.
A list of states with counties (counties/cities are listed in bracket) that have banned the material include:
2) Florida (Bal Harbour, FL; Bay Harbor Islands, FL; Key Biscayne, FL; Miami Beach, FL; North Bay Village, FL; Surfside, FL;)
5) Massachusetts (Amherst, MA; Brookline, MA; Great Barrington, MA; City of Nantucket, MA; County of Nantucket, MA; Pittsfield, MA; Somerville, MA; Williamstown, MA)
7) New Jersey (Rahway, NJ)
11) California (Alameda, CA; Albany City, CA; Aliso Viejo, CA; Belmont, CA; Berkeley, CA; Burlingame, CA; Calabasas, CA; Capitola, CA; Carmel, CA; Carpenteria, CA; Dana Point, CA; Del Ray Oaks, CA; El Cerrito, CA; Emeryville, CA; Fairfax, CA; Foster City, CA; Fremont, CA; Half Moon Bay, CA; Hayward, CA; Hercules, CA; Hermosa Beach, CA; Huntington Beach, CA; Laguna Beach, CA; Laguna Hills, CA; Laguna Woods, CA; Livermore, CA; Los Altos Hills, CA; Los Angeles County, CA; Los Gatos, CA; Malibu, CA; Manhattan Beach, CA; Marin County, CA; Marina, CAMenlo Park, CA' Millbrae, CA; Mill Vallet, CA; Monterey City, CA; Monterey County, CA; Morgan Hill, CA; Newport Beach, CA; Novato, CA; Oakland, CA; Orange, CA; Orange County, CA; Pacific Grove, CA; Pacifica, CA; Palo Alto, CA; Pittsburg, CA; Pleasenton, CA; Portola Valley, CA; Redwood City, CA; Richmond, CA; Riverbank, CA; Salinas, CA; San Bruno, CA; San Carlos, CA; San Clemente, CA; San Francisco, CA; San Jose, CA; San Juan Capistrano, CA; San Leandro, CA; San Mateo City, CA; San Mateo County, CA; San Rafael, CA; Santa Clara City, CA; Santa Clara County, CASanta Cruz City, CASanta Cruz County, CASanta Monica, CASausalito, CAScotts Valley, CASeaside, CASouth San Francisco, CASonoma County, CASunnyvale, CAVentura County, CAWatsonville, CA; West Hollywood, CA; Yountville, CA; San Luis Obispo, CA).
States/Counties considering the ban:
Illinois (Chicago, IL) (The last report on the bill I could find was in 2014. The bill is been heavily opposed by GoFoam.)
CONCLUSION
To wrap it up, I have provided a list of states with counties that have enacted a ban on styrofoam packaging. Apart from counties in New York, the foam egg carton is among the styrofoam packaging material banned in counties/cities with a ban on polystyrene.
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