Restaurants in Alaska will have to stop serving food in disposable polystyrene foam containers, under a bill passed by the Legislature and awaiting Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s signature.
The measure, House Bill 25, prohibits food establishments from using containers made of Styrofoam and similar plastic foam materials starting on Jan. 1. The bill applies to restaurants and to state agencies’ food operations, but it does not apply to empty food storage containers sold in retail stores.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, said he was inspired to introduce the measure after attending meetings of the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators and learning how other states are trying to curb plastic pollution.
There are several reasons to ban containers made from Styrofoam and other polystyrene, Josephson said at a May 11 hearing of the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee. The materials are linked to cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma and other health problems, like endocrine disruption. They cannot be recycled. And they crumble into tiny pieces that spread into the environment, including Alaska’s marine environment, he said.
The bill’s ban would be “historic,” Josephson said. “It would send a strong message that Alaska, with its massive coastlines, greater than the rest of the country, intends to clean up,” he said at the hearing.
Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks, summarized the environmental concerns when he spoke in favor of the bill on the Senate floor on May 18. “Styrofoam never breaks down. It always floats away. And it can float through air and water,” he said.
Some Alaska municipalities already have such bans, Josephson and Kawasaki said, naming Bethel, Cordova and Seward as examples.
Lawmakers made some changes to ease the transition to non-polystyrene materials. The final bill allows restaurants to continue using polystyrene containers that had been stockpiled prior to the effective date of Jan. 1, 2027. Another change grants municipalities the option of allowing the containers.
The local-option change was important to Sen. Rob Yundt, R-Wasilla, and helped him overcome his earlier reluctance to support the bill. He and his wife own a restaurant and the ban “very well might cost us a little bit of money,” Yundt said in floor comments on May 18, when the bill won final passage in the Senate. “But I can tell you it’s common sense. It’s long overdue.”
Environmental groups praised the bill. Among the risks of polystyrene pollution cited by those groups is the damage to fish and wildlife, which mistake tiny bits of plastic for food.
A national trade organization representing manufacturers of polystyrene materials opposed the bill.
Lindsay Stovall, director of state and regulatory affairs for the American Chemistry Council, described her organization’s objections in written comments and in committee testimony. She said the bill would impose costs on consumers, businesses and state agencies.
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, which would oversee the ban, “can integrate compliance into existing processes without the need for regulatory development or significant additional staff workload,” and would be able to use previously allocated resources, according to the department’s fiscal analysis.
The Alaska Beacon is an independent, donor-funded news organization. Alaskabeacon.com.
