Styrofoam Ban IN CT Schools

By Ella Paul, 2024

Published 5/5/22

As of July 1, 2024, schools, universities, and restaurants will no longer be permitted to use single-use styrofoam products. With Connecticut’s landfills growing at a concerningly rapid rate, this bill is intended to reduce that rate as styrofoam is non-recyclable and significantly contributes to landfills. This bill includes all kinds of products such as cups, trays, and take-out containers, only excluding sealed meat shipping packages. It is hoped that the act will be successful as it outlines an explicit punishment for violations resulting in a heavy fine, especially for repeat offenders.

According to the Green Dining Alliance, approximately 2.3 million tons of styrofoam products end up in landfills yearly, which is about thirty percent of the contents of landfills. This is extremely threatening to the environment because all of this styrofoam thrown into wide open landfills exposes it to sunlight. When the material that makes styrofoam, polystyrene, is exposed to sunlight, it begins to decompose and in the process, creates a harmful chemical that becomes an air pollutant which, over time, has proven to significantly and negatively contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer.

In addition to the environmental effects, styrofoam has proven to have harmful effects on human and animal health. Animal health is severely impacted because since the styrofoam goes into landfills, animals scavenging for food often accidentally take bites and choke on it. In regards to humans, styrofoam contains styrene which has proven to seep into foods or drinks in contact with it and can contaminate the products. More significantly, styrene is believed (though not fully proven yet) to be a carcinogen, and additionally can cause other irritations to human bodies mostly in the skin, eyes, and respiratory system.

The passage of this bill is a monumental victory for our environment. It is a first step by us humans to protect and preserve our environment, and hopefully, many other bills such as this will begin to pass as we continue to understand the impact we have on this beautiful Earth and the efforts we must take to care for it.