Maplewood bans Styrofoam, plastic straws

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — In its first virtual meeting, on April 7, the Maplewood Township Committee passed an ordinance that will ban nonreusable food and beverage accessories, such as plastic straws and stirrers, Styrofoam containers, and individual packets of condiments. The ordinance passed unanimously; Committeewoman Nancy Adams was absent.

Taking effect on Oct. 1, the ordinance aims to reduce greenhouse gases and the negative environmental impact that plastic straws and Styrofoam containers have when they end up in the waste system and local waterways. Styrofoam takes 500 years or longer to break down and is harmful when thrown out and released into the environment.

The committee first discussed the ordinance at its Feb. 18 meeting, when it was originally two separate ordinances, one focusing on Styrofoam containers and the other on straws, stirrers and condiment packages. The two were ultimately combined into one ordinance.

“This is basically asking businesses to only provide them on request by the customer, as opposed to giving them out,” Adams said at the Feb. 18 meeting.

That idea remained in the final ordinance. Food providers are not permitted to offer single-use utensils, straws or stirrers unless they are requested by the customer. Self-service utensil and condiment stations are still permitted under the ordinance, but plastic straws and stirrers will not be allowed. The same rule applies to delivery as well.

At the Feb. 18 meeting, Mayor Frank McGehee proposed eliminating self-service stations, making plastic straws and utensils less accessible and therefore less likely to end up in the environment. Deputy Mayor Dean Dafis agreed, but then said that even when restaurant employees provide the items from behind the counter, it’s the same as customers serving themselves.

“What’s the difference between the proprietor behind the counter grabbing a whole bunch of stuff and throwing it in your plastic bag with your takeout and someone doing it on their own?” he said on Feb. 18. “There really is no difference; it’s the same action and it’s the same material that ends up in our stream that we’re trying to eliminate.”

There are exemptions to the rule. One is if a straw comes prepackaged with a beverage. Individuals with disabilities who need a straw or single-use utensils can have them, and if a business placed a bulk order of single-use items before the law went into effect they are permitted to use it all.

In addition, businesses can provide nonplastic alternatives without customers asking. In the ordinance, nonplastic alternatives are “those made from paper, sugar cane, glass, grass, metal and bamboo.”

If food providers fail to follow the ordinance, a fine will be incurred. For the first violation, the fine is $100; the second violation comes with a fine of $200. For three or more violations, the fine is $500. Businesses will be fined for each day a violation occurs or is allowed to continue.

  FEATURED, Maplewood Township Committee, Mayor Frank McGehee