A student’s typical plastic-foam lunch tray. Photo from: http://kidsblogs.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/11/kids-change-their-cafeteria/
In “To Go: Plastic-Foam Containers, if the Mayor Gets His Way,” Michael M. Grynbaum informs us about Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s plan to ban plastic-foam containers. This would include take-out boxes, cups, and trays. The plastic-foam is not biodegradable, which can cause it to cost up to $20 per ton when recycling for a city that deals with about 20,000 tons of plastic foam per year. This proposal has gained support from city officials such as City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and senior Eric A. Goldstein, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York, but opposition from the restaurant industry, who say that paper containers would be much more expensive than the plastic-foam containers. This is one of the many changes Mayor Bloomberg intends to implement to continue his environmental protection effort, which also includes doubling the amount of recycling bins on the streets of New York City.
