The basis for this model ordinance is the documented evidence in the Monterey Bay coastal communities showing that EPS composes a majority of litter collected at beach clean-ups.

Not only are the products abundantly showing up as litter, EPS products are designed to be a single-use food service containers that are cheap to produce, and therefore they are also characteristically impractical to recycle due to their light weight (not cost effective to transport).

Styrofoam represents a serious threat to the Monterey Bay ecosystem and two important points exemplify why a ban is a solution to Monterey County’s EPS problems:

1. There is no EPS recycler servicing Monterey County,
2. It is not cost-effective to transport EPS long distances to be recycled

Learn more about what you can do to stop the stream of polystyrene waste into our communities, and about its abundant, economical, and recyclable alternatives. Please use the following links to inform yourself about this issue.

For more information on this topic, please see:

Environmentally Acceptable Food Packaging – Background Statement

Environmentally Acceptable Food Packaging - Model Ordinance

“Use and Disposal of Polystyrene in California,” CIWMB

“Polystyrene and Fast Food Packaging Waste,” Californians Against Waste