Page 7 - Aruba Today
P. 7
U.S. NEWS A7
Wednesday 23 September
Judge overturns New York City ban on plastic foam containers
JAKE PEARSON New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio arrives at city hall in New York, Monday, Sept. 21, 2015. A state material called expand-
Associated Press judge has overturned New York City’s ban on plastic foam containers, according to a decision ed polystyrene foam. Al-
NEW YORK (AP) — A state made public Tuesday. The environmental initiative was spearheaded by former Mayor Michael though commonly referred
judge has overturned New Bloomberg, and supported by current Mayor Bill de Blasio. to as Styrofoam, that Dow
York City’s ban on plastic Chemical Co. brand isn’t
foam containers, finding (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) used as a food container,
the nearly 30,000 tons of the company has said.
dirty meat trays and to-go industry estimates of the the basis of her conclusions cent of its wasted plastic Prohibitions on the product
cups now sent to landfills market and recycling op- when the evidence con- foam wasn’t sent to land- exist in other cities across
can be recycled in a cost- portunities generated dur- trary to her findings were fills, though as much as 75 the country, such as San
effective way, according ing the yearlong review clearly before her,” Chan percent could be recycled Francisco, Seattle and Port-
to a decision made public period when she decided wrote, noting industry esti- following machinery im- land, Oregon. The ban had
Tuesday. The ban went into that plastic foam couldn’t mates that 21 companies provements. made New York the largest
effect July 1 after lawmak- be recycled economically would buy used contain- The takeout containers city in the country to pro-
ers voted in 2013 to ap- and in an environmentally ers from the city. She also popular with street vendors hibit plastic foam, which
prove it unless a yearlong friendly way. noted the city would save for keeping food warm environmentalists say clogs
inquiry found the foam Garcia didn’t “clearly state $400,000 annually if 40 per- are actually made from a up landfills.
could be effectively recy- Mayoral spokeswoman Is-
cled. An industry group of hanee Parikh said de Blasio
manufacturers, recyclers administration officials dis-
and restaurant-owners agreed with the ruling and
then sued, arguing that the were reviewing options to
ban was based on politics, keep the ban in place.
not policy, and that recy- “These products cause
cling was feasible. The en- real environmental harm,
vironmental initiative was and we need to be able to
spearheaded by former prevent nearly 30,000 tons
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, of expanded polystyrene
an independent, and sup- waste from entering our
ported by current Mayor Bill landfills, streets and water-
de Blasio, a Democrat. ways,” she said.
But state Supreme Court Cas Holloway, a former
Judge Margaret Chan Bloomberg deputy mayor
ruled that Department of who led that administra-
Sanitation Commissioner tion’s efforts to ban plastic
Katheryn Garcia didn’t foam, called Chan’s deci-
properly take into account sion “clearly wrong.”q
