California Senate votes to ban foam takeout containers

Sandwiches, milkshakes and other food items frequently packaged in foam takeout containers will have to be packaged in other materials under a bill that cleared the state Senate on Thursday. SB 568 by Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) would prohibit food vendors and restaurants from dispensing prepared foods to customers in polystyrene foam beginning Jan. 1, 2014.

Expanded polystyrene foam, commonly known as Styrofoam, is a lightweight plastic that, when littered, is often carried from streets through storm drains into the ocean. It accounts for 15% of storm drain litter, according to the California Department of Transportation. It is the second-most-common type of beach debris, according to a study by the Southern California Coastal Water Quality Research Project.

Fifty California jurisdictions have already banned foam takeout food packaging, including Huntington Beach, Santa Monica, Malibu and Ventura County.

"There are all these jurisdictions in California that have to control trash and reduce their discharges of trash to waterways, and they're having a hard time complying because foam litter is so hard to control. That's the reason for this bill," said Miriam Gordon, state director of Clean Water Action, a national advocacy group that sponsored SB 568.

"I introduced this bill not just to solve an environmental problem that plagues our state but also because it's a job booster for California," Lowenthal said. He added that many California companies are making alternatives to polystyrene takeout packaging, including compostable materials, aluminum foil and paper.

SB 568 passed on a bipartisan 21-15 vote. The bill is headed to the Assembly this month, with a floor vote by the end of August. 

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-- Susan Carpenter

Photo: A girl runs by a discarded polystyrene foam cup on a beach. Credit: Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Bryce]

I think you meant by Sen. Bonnie Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), not Alan

[Neev]

Styrofoam has been changed in how they make it. It's now photosensitive to break down shortly after use and the molecules have been spaced in such a way that it disintegrates within 3-4 weeks. FAIL to everyone who says this is a problem. Maybe you should go around smelling flatulence and writing tickets for polluting the air.

[Sheda]

How far we've come Cali!! I cannot wait until the day when our marine organisms can escape at least a little bit of these choke-foams.

Until Styrofoam disappears from California eateries (and hopefully, office buildings etc.), our family will continue to verbally refuse ordering take-out from any restaurant that uses Styrofoam (we call & ask, or if it's an eatery we've called in the past and skipped on, then we call & ask if they've changed their containers).

If we're eating out and have leftovers, we ask for foil in lieu of Styrofoam. And if it's liquids, then we leave the food behind (and hope that one day, all restaurants will also be forced to compost their non-meat items.)

[LA Stormwater]

Clean water is a team effort! Taking simple steps such as picking up trash to banning Styrofoam (which greatly contributes to stormwater pollution) helps protect our ocean and sustain our water quality! Learn more about what you can do to protect our waters at www.lastormwater.info

[Mea Sententia]

Staged photos of a styrofoam cup and the politicians go berserk. A rush to pass more silly Laws and further erode the job market. If they were honest, they would look at the issue, conduct a five year study to estabalish a base model, then pass the Law with a manditory 5 year sunset rule that would null the Statute, then a five year study to compare the effectiveness of the Law against the model. I think it's more about control of the People and money (fines) to the State. You enviro-pagans are killing the goledn goose.

[Mark]

If we could get all of the Lazy pigs to use a trash can instead of dropping it anywhere the please.
People we need to change you see trash everywhere in California.

[Bill in SF]

Styrofoam CAN be recycled, but almost nowhere actually does it. My town doesn't allow styrofoam containers in the mixed recycling, because they don't make any money from handling it and it's always contaminated with food waste when it's thrown out.

On the other hand, what does "non-styrofoam containers create jobs" mean? It means "they cost more", but also "maybe some of the containers get made in California". Sorry, I don't trust liberal politicians who say they're creating jobs any more than I trust right-wing politicians who say that stopping pollution is bad for jobs. The liberals are much nicer people and have better intentions, but that doesn't mean they understand business, while the right-wingers are trying to protect their corporate sponsors and don't care if that causes pollution or fills up taxpayer-funded landfills.

[J Chadworth]

"Rid California of the liberal influence and this type of nonsense goes away.

Liberals are the problem. 2012. 2014. Solve the problem."

You have a low IQ and are a racist homophobe. And you like guns. Guaranteed.

[Leonard C. Marshman]

I used to work for the City of Irvine, and they banned these containers over a decade ago. Despite manufacturers and distributors protesting otherwise, there ARE soy-based containers that are organically-based and actually-edible. THIS is the direction we need to go in. The future is now!

[pokerdude]

The thing people fail to mention is that styrofoam products are all 100% recyclable. Paper with wax coating can't be recycled and it sinks in the water so out of sight, out of mind.

As far as trash on the beach goes, no one wants to see it, but a better way to go is to deal with those who litter rather than banning the product. I don't like seeing mattresses laying along the road either, but are we going to ban mattresses, too?

[Waldo]

again our idiots fail us... We are mired in debt and they spend time on this stuff...unbelievable.

[Debbie]

Lets all go cut down a tree today so we have enough paper on board.

[scoobydoo]

Ah yes, only in CALIFRONIA, the land of the FRUITS and the NUTS. What's next please. DISPOSABLE napkins AND paper towels. I wish that you people OVER THERE just stick to things that you are WELL versed in, like FINANCES and UNDOING TRAFFIC CONGESTION !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kma]

No more hot soup. No more individual Chinese take out dinners. No more takeout pancakes from CoCo's.

Glad to know California legislators are so technically competent - they must be good at something 'cause it sure isn't finances.

[jim]

More California Beaches have Styrofome
from Boat Dock Decay
Get rid of the boat docks that use styrofome

[colin flaherty]

i trust their will be an exemption for carne asada burritos.

[eric jones]

I have to post again. I'm amazed at the post of individuals downing the Liberal Left for protecting the environment. If we in Texas had at least half the green laws in our state we would have prestine beaches. I have to volunteer my time to clean our beaches because that are absolutely horrible.

If the officials dont protect your beaches that will kill tourisism to your state. So shut-up and get out there and clean up your beaches for free like me.

You take for granted what you have, beautiful beaches. To travel to California and stay in California is expensive and then when tourist go to the beach and see styroform cups washing up --are you freckin kidding me??

Get off your lazy butts and volunteer and be part of your community. Why you think they call it the Golden State?

Unbelieveable!!

[Plainsarcher]

I think the environment is just lovely and want to do sensible things to protect it. That being said, it is comical that while the California legislature is drowning in red ink, they find the time to pander to their base with yet another do-gooder, nanny state law. Do I care about Styrofoam? No. What I do care about is a group of out of touch fools who strain at gnats and swallow camels. It is their profligate spending that will destroy us in the near term, not Styrofoam.

[l.bolard]

Last week California Assembly killed a car insurance hole bill that would have forced car insurance companies to pay the full amount for which you are insured to cover your health care costs, if you are in an accident.

Currently if you buy an under insured driver insurance for $100,000, and get injured by an under insured driver who has $50,000 insurance, and your bill for health care due to the accident is $150,000 your car insurance will pay you only $50,000. The insurers subtract the $50,000 that the under-insured driver's insurance pays. And you are in the hole for $50,000- although you paid your insurance bill.
That bill was killed in the Assembly.
A bill forcing your health care insurance company to pay for your health care after accident was killed years ago.

But let's go after food containers.

Now that's really important on the scale of things. What farce we have for a government.

[Pfenix]

To those with similar complaints to johnnyboy56 that the legislature has better things to do: I would point out that the state legislature is organized into many committees that deal with different issues. This law is exactly what the Committee on Natural Resources is supposed to be working on.

The budget problems are up to the legislators in the Committee on Budget, Committee on Appropriations, and the Committee on Revenue and Taxation.

[Estaban]

Morons.

[Geoff]

That's great news...wish it would happen faster. Hawaii has already banned plastic bags a long time ago.

Also, note to ECOPOLITICS, Paul Taylor: Something's wrong with you. Go away.

[Z2221344]

I've never understood why modern Conservatives hate the environment so much? This is not a traditional left-right dichotomy. Teddy Roosevelt was a huge environmentalist (for the time), and he was a Republican. Heck, Nixon created the EPA? Why the current animosity?

Do you (Republicans) like non-biodegradable choices? Do you enjoy seeing litter on beaches? Do you think that species extinction is fine?

You talk about the economy, but you don't see to recognize that a healthy environment is essential to a healthy economy. If people gave a wit about the environment 100 years ago, and actually monitored, conserved and cared about the Cod Fisheries in the North Atlantic we wouldn't be in a situation today where entire industries have been obliterated on the east coasts of Canada and the US. And that's just one example.

Staggering, really, that more people don't grasp this.

[ro]

We got rid of the extreme Right and GW Bush. Problem solved. Obama 2012

[johnnyboy56]

The California legislature is so desperate to appear as though they can accomplish something while the state flounders economically, they will do anything. That includes passing this stupid law that will do nothing to stop pollution. I just love the responses from readers acclaiming this wonderful feat. I would suggess that they get on board with demanding action from them to address the failed California economy. You act as sheep.

[JENNY]

DON'T FORGET CIGARETTE BUTT TOO. THEY ARE EVERY WHERE

[eric jones]

I read the LA Times on-line alot and when I read stories like this, I must agree with regulators and law makers, because there are alternatives to styrofoam. Yes, it is cheap and light weight and controls temperatures, this is true, but it's a huge litter problem. I live in Texas and we tried to get a plastic bottle bill passed, which I think would solve two things in our state 1) plastic pollution and 2)end the stupid "Dont Mess with Texas Campaign-- meaning Dont litter, 80% percent of road side litter is plastic bottles. Texas spends 60 million a year paying for road side clean up.

So liberal job killer or not, work with your officials to come up with a alternative that works for all. The narrow minded republicans dont give a damn about any environmental laws. They say the same thing a "job killer."

Some liberals do live in Texas.

[Dave]

Southern California Coastal Water Quality Research Project (?) = Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP)

[Hindenburg]

Applause for Lowenthal from this conservative!
Since the GARBAGE-BEHAVIOR of the mob - including cheapo-merchants - shows no respect for the public square, the heavy hand of government must come down.

[Tally]

2014????? Why wait so long?? Why not this coming January?

[Stan Schroeder]

How about you lock-step "conservatives" come up with your own initiatives to protect the environment instead of waiting for the "liberals" and then ridiculing them. Get off your "oh my rights have been infringed" mantra and do something... anything! Sea life doesn't just delay extinction while you all harrumph about the budget crisis. They both need attention.

[Andrew H]

This is great! I used to live on the beach (rent control) and styrofoam was by far the worst polluter. Plastic bags were a close second. We used to take collanders out to the beach to target the styrofoam since it never dissinegrates and only breaks down into unmanageable beads. You can't imagine the proportion of styrofoam to sand you find in a patch of sand that looks clean. This crap is everywhere!

I am a conservative and agree that many green initiatives inhibit growth and aren't worth the energy of pursuing. However, little things like this ban are no brainers. Well done Mr. Lowenthal. Now get this budget together.

[Informed]

1. Polystyrene is light, reducing costs for shipping.
So is tried and true paper, which if you notice the major chains already use it, why Cost!

2. Polystyrene is easy to manufacture.
So is paper and it also involves less use of dangerous chemicals

3. Polystyrene is used for temperature control.
Papaer can accomplish the same thing

4. The end of Polystyrene is not a job creator. Weyerhouser disagrees

Trash pick-up details along the beach will be curtailed,
if they haven't already. Polluters will still pollute, paper cups will still need to be picked up, any cuts of beach clean up will be betermined by budget which ic determined by tax revenue

and Paper cups for coffee will leak like crazy and are unstable and reduce sales, which reduce tax revenue.
Tell that to Star Bucks, McDonalds or any other major take out chain!

Maybe you should study the issue instead of blindly following your political ideology

[Steven M.]

"I introduced this bill not just to solve an environmental problem that plagues our state but also because it's a job booster for California," Lowenthal said.
-----------------------------------
1. Polystyrene is light, reducing costs for shipping.
2. Polystyrene is easy to manufacture.
3. Polystyrene is used for temperature control.
4. The end of Polystyrene is not a job creator. Trash pick-up details along the beach will be curtailed, if they haven't already. Paper cups for coffee will leak like crazy and are unstable and reduce sales, which reduce tax revenue.

Lowenthal is another liberal genius.

[Paul Taylor]

Wow. The California Legislature is truely doing the peoples' important business.
California is sick of these "green stunts" at the expense of business growth.
Fix California's fiscal crisis.
Stop the enviro gimmicks.

ECOPOLITICS

[TronUI]

I enjoy the convenience of styrofoam--I don't have it when I go overseas, but paper cups do just as well (in addition to corn byproduct-based variations). The problem with styrofoam is that when it breaks apart, the beads are very resilient and animals eat them, mistaking the beads for fish eggs. It makes our beaches dirty anyway.

Hey, if clean beaches increase tourism to California coastal communities and bring jobs, then I won't argue.

[Julie]

Good!!!

[Joseph L Cooke]

Rid California of the liberal influence and this type of nonsense goes away.

Liberals are the problem. 2012. 2014. Solve the problem.

[Red]

And about time too!! I bike in Marina Del Rey and see thousands of polystyrene containers littering the banks of the river and beach all the time. People just do not care, most of the pollution floats down the rivers onto the beaches. Wake up and see what's happening to the planet. Go policy makers!!

[Katherine Frazier]

What a great idea: clean up litter AND create jobs for eco-friendly alternatives. Thanks.

[Exnavyemo]

Um, am I missing something or does California STILL not have a balanced budget finished this year? And they've got time to continue the diktat/commissar routine as they delve into and control every facet of the lives of their constituents? Amazing.

[Get Planted]

Ryan P get a clue.

Many of us stopped doing business with food vendors that use expanded foam containers decades ago. Trash generated from those containers is one of our worst environmental problems That's exactly why McDonald's and numerous other companies have stopped using them.

[Joanne]

But this is much better, and it really isn't a problem. We have it in San Francisco, and after a couple of months of getting used to it, it wasn't a problem at all. Everything moved to paper containers, that then could be recycled. No garbage. My street is a lot cleaner now. There used to be a lot of fast food Styrofoam containers on the street. Now there isn't. Things that used to be served in Styrofoam, now come in paper, and end up in garbage cans. The Chinese delivery food comes in paper boxes that go into the food recycle bins, or can be rinsed out and go into the paper, bottle, and can bin.

I know it seems extreme at first, but it works well and is no problem at all very quickly.

[cb debris]

With Pepsi moving to bottles made from organic material such as the waste from producing soft drinks, maybe others will see that it's possible.

[Allan Lunsford]

We as a State have our priorities so screwed up!! Our State Legislative Branch cannot deal with the real issues of the revenue or budget deficits . . . all they do is whine about Prop. 13 . . . so they focus on such minutia. We need to lower their salary to be more in line with the problems they tackle. Oh, I forgot, they vote their own salaries. We as an electorate are all to be blamed for allowing these people to remain in office!!! Unfortunately, we get the Legislator we vote for.

[Ryan P]

Alan Lowenthal is at it again! First he wanted us to all have to pay to park in front of our own homes! This guy is insane.