New York City’s Department of Sanitation announced recently it would suggest legislation to the city that would ban styrofoam reports DNAinfo. According to deputy commissioner for recycling and sustainability Ron Gonen, the details of the proposed law are not finished, but it would likely put the focus on companies that buy large amounts of the material, not on individual New Yorkers. “The onus would not be on the consumer,” he said. “This would not be something that the consumer would have to deal with.”
Styrofoam is not biodegradable, and does more damage than other garbage when placed in a landfill. This translates to a larger financial burden on the city and its taxpayers, Goren says. Ban-happy Mayor Bloomberg could not be reached for comment, but Councilman Lewis A. Fidler said he’d support the measure.
“I would love to move this bill forward,” he said, “as it would be a help to both our environment and to our businesses through tax incentives.”
(Photo: Ted Major/Flickr)
