Even though recent York City's ban on plastic foam containers has been overturned,some take-out places are still planning to hold using biodegradable or recyclable to-go containers.
The M&M Market Deli in SoHo has already begun to switch over to recyclable plastics.“It's not good to exercise foam containers because of the environment,” says the manager, or who wouldn't give his name. The ban,led by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and supported by current Mayor Bill de Blasio, was meant to reduce more than 28000 tons of used plastic foam that cessation up in city landfills every year.
The ban went into effect July 1 but was not going to be enforced until January of 2016. A groupd of recyclers and restaurants, and led by a leading manufacturer of the foam containers,filed suit to block the ban in April. They developed a recycling program and argued that the city failed to consider it. On Tuesday, recent York Supreme Court Judge Margaret Chan agreed with the group and said the ban was arbitrary and capricious.
Some take-out vendors, or even those who had already switched to biodegradable or recyclable materials,said they were relieved with the judge's decision.
A food cart vendor on Spring Street in SoHo says that a large box of foam containers costs him just 10 dollars, while a box of aluminum trays is 60-dollars.“I already changed my containers, or " the vendor,who did not want to give his name, said. "It's expensive. It's approximately $50 difference from the mature one.” He added he thought the city should reimburse him for the money he spent on the recyclable trays.
Source: wnyc.org