Plastic Foam Cups Win Reprieve

Representatives from plastic foam manufacturers and McDonald’s fast-food restaurants urged the Community Services Commission last week to consider recycling rather than banning cellular polystyrene.

Commission Chairman Bob Wight deferred action on the proposal to June 21, although Commissioners Dennis Thompson, Mary Somerlott and Don Wilson spoke against a ban.

The City Council has been considering banning the use of plastic foam containers and other products in restaurants because it is non-biodegradable and poses a litter problem. Some cellular polystyrene is made with chemicals that damage the protective ozone layer of the atmosphere, contributing to the so-called “greenhouse effect.”

The council has asked the commission to consider the proposal and make a recommendation. The only speakers at the three-hour hearing Wednesday were representatives of businesses opposed to a ban.

“Polystyrene foam is very safe, non-hazardous,” said John Marshall, a project manager of Dow Chemical Co. The material has insulating, sanitary and lightweight qualities, he said.

Through a voluntary effort of manufacturers, Marshall said, virtually none of the foam cups or boxes used by restaurants are made with ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs. By the end of the year all foam food packaging, including egg cartons and meat trays, will be free of CFCs, he said.

Because polystyrene foam is not biodegradable, Marshall said it does not generate methane gas in landfills and does not pollute ground water because it is so stable. A demonstration project Dow Chemical is sponsoring in Brooklyn, N.Y., has shown that plastic foam can be recycled, he said.