Following the lead of San Francisco, Oakland and Santa Monica, more and more municipalities are considering mandating that takeout food packaging be made from recyclable or compostable materials, which diverts packaging from landfills and encourages the use of material that degrade in the marine environment, like paperboard. Currently, unrecyclable takeout food packaging like foamed polystyrene are the second largest component of litter, and are a large component of marine debris. How do you feel about food packaging ordinances? Do you have questions for CAW employees? This forum is your place to discuss these issues.
Polsytyrene Bans
The best bans are the ones like Santa Monica's, which state simply that take-out packaging be recyclable by that municipality's curbside recycling. This bans polystyrene by default--as it is not recycable in any measurable way across the state--but also encourages sales of biodegradable and recyclable take-out packaging.