The Maryland General Assembly is right now considering a statewide ban of styrofoam food service products (SB0285/HB0109). I am very pleased to see this. Montgomery County banned styrofoam food service products in 2015 by passing legislation I authored, joining a regional effort with Washington, D.C. and Prince George’s County.
What makes styrofoam a particularly pernicious form of litter is that the petroleum-based plastic breaks down into small pieces as it makes it way to the Chesapeake Bay, but it does not completely dissolve. This makes it incredibly difficult and costly to clean up. It also ends up in the food supply, as fish and oysters eat the bits of foam. The only way to meaningfully reduce this scourge on our watersheds is to ban it.
Hopefully, the rest of Maryland will soon join us.
Hans Riemer
Councilmember, At-large
Email Councilmember.Riemer@montgomerycountymd.gov.