California Lawmakers Might Ban Styrofoam Containers

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Certain to-go containers could get the heave-ho if a California bill is passed into law.

A bill has been introduced in California that would ban restaurants, grocery stores and other vendors from packaging food in non-biodegradable Styrofoam containers beginning in 2016. The bill was introduced by Democratic state Senator Alan Lowenthal in an effort to reduce litter from take-out food. Though many California cities have similar bans on the non-biodegradable containers, if passed into law this bill would be the first state-wide measure against Styrofoam in the U.S.

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The California Chamber of Commerce calls the bill a “job-killer”, reports MSNBC, saying that banning Styrofoam would not only cut manufacturing jobs from plants in California that produce Styrofoam, but also force many businesses to increase their costs for packaging. (Some businesses report that hot items often require two biodegradable containers so food doesn’t leak through.) Other critics of the bill also point out that Styrofoam doesn’t cause litter — litterers cause litter.