NYC Mayor Bloomberg Wants to Ban Plastic-Foam Food Packaging. Should We?

In addition to bans on trans fats, smoking in public places and jumbo sodas, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to enact a city-wide ban on plastic-foam food packaging used in takeout boxes, cups and trays, reports Patch. The ban would affect restaurants, bodegas and public schools, if passed.

There is no such ban in the City of Chicago, though the measure was proposed and failed a few years ago. Several environmental and activist groups, like No Foam Chicago, are still pushing for it.

Mayor Bloomberg made the case for New York in his final State of the City address on Thursday. In his speech, the mayor compared the dangers of such packaging materials to lead paint and warned of its environmental impact, reported Yahoo! News.

"Something that we know is environmentally destructive and that may be hazardous to our health, that is costing taxpayers money and that we can easily do without, and is something that should go the way of lead paint," Bloomberg said. "We can live without it, we may live longer without it, and the doggie bag and the coffee cup will survive just fine."

Small businesses are saying such a ban would put an unfair burden on them, reported Patch.

In 2011, the City of Highland Park began a polystyrene foam recycling program in partnership with SWALCO, according to Patch.

More people are also recycling those pesky packaging peanuts. To find a drop-off center, visit the Plastic Loose Fill Council at www.loosefillpackaging.com.

Tell Us: Should there be a ban on plastic-foam food packaging? Should there be more of an effort to recycle?