Officials debate sweeping ban on common restaurant items: 'This is a real problem'

Lawmakers in Stamford, Connecticut, are considering a ban on single-use plastics in restaurants and other businesses in the city. 

As the Stamford Advocate reported, the Board of Representatives voted to have a public hearing about single-use cups, utensils, and other plastic materials. 

The city can't recycle these plastics, so they end up in landfills. However, Stamford doesn't have anywhere to put the waste, so the city must haul it and dump it elsewhere. 

If approved, the ordinance would ban disposable foodware at dine-in establishments, although napkins are an exception. It would also require restaurants to provide reusable foodware made of nonplastic materials such as glass, bamboo, wood, metal, or ceramic. 

Under the Stamford ordinance, single-use foodware such as plastic plates, cups, and utensils would be banned. Straws, stirrers, accessories, and black plastic containers would also be restricted. 

One representative who submitted the ordinance, Karen Camporeale, explained: "Connecticut and all of New England right now is facing a trash crisis. We are hauling all of our garbage out of town. There's nowhere to put it." 

"This is a real problem," she said, adding that the plastics in landfills can get "into our water and soil and eventually into our bodies."

The city scheduled a public hearing to discuss eliminating this major source of waste for the sake of public health and safety. The ordinance states that a first violation would result in a written warning. Subsequent violations would result in a $250 fine, and "each day a violation continues shall be considered a separate offense." 

Stamford would use the money from fines to support sustainability initiatives and enforce the ordinance. 

The city is one of many considering or already implementing plastic bans to improve human and environmental health. 

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Other communities making strides in banning nonrecyclable food and beverage container waste include Honolulu, Los Angeles, Richmond, Virginia, and Sindh, Pakistan. Entire nations such as India and the United Arab Emirates have also taken steps to phase out plastic and curb pollution. 

Single-use plastics clog up our landfills and contribute to the growing problem of ocean pollution. More sustainable alternatives are available to create cleaner and healthier living spaces for everyone. 

Moving away from single-use plastics is largely about changing consumer behaviors. 

Meanwhile, the Connecticut General Assembly passed a ban on single-use plastic and polystyrene waste to curb pollution and public health risks at the state level.

"Polystyrene alternatives such as cardboard are easier to recycle while costing roughly the same to businesses," said former Stamford Mayor David Martin. "This is a common-sense environmental reform that benefits everyone who lives on this planet."

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