Say goodbye to styrofoam takeout containers and drinking cups. This week marks the end of styrofoam for restaurants and food vendors.
The fight against expanded polystyrene, commonly called styrofoam, dates back to the 1980s, when former Delegate Ken Plum of Reston introduced the first bill to ban it. But he ran into a problem: Big Foam. Specifically, a styrofoam cup factory in Winchester.
"It was going to cost some people jobs, and those people's jobs, those people had representation in the legislature. So, while I stood for the environmental issue, they stood for their constituent jobs," Plum remembers. "And at that point in time, obviously, the jobs won out."
But slowly, very slowly over time, people came to see styrofoam as a lingering problem. The bill to ban it from restaurants, food vendors and convenience stores was introduced by Delegate Betsy Carr of Richmond.
"You know, styrofoam doesn't disappear. It doesn't, doesn't dissolve. It's always there. It's going to be there 500, a thousand years from now. So, it's good that we're taking these steps to help our environment and the health of our citizens."
Now that the law is fully implemented, the penalty for using styrofoam in Virginia is a civil fine of $50 for each day of violation.
