Portland weighs ban on plastic foam cups
PORTLAND, Maine—Portland is one step closer to banning the sale of plastic foam, the unrecyclable petroleum-based material often used to serve hot drinks.
The City Council on Monday voted unanimously to direct its Transportation, Sustainability and Energy Committee to craft an ordinance to ban the sale of polystyrene, often called Styrofoam.
The council would have to approve the ordinance before it could take effect.
The move was welcomed by environmentalists, who noted that a Styrofoam cup takes 500 years to break down and it's a common form of wind-blown litter.
Businesses that use foam cups say switching to paper is more expensive and customers prefer foam.
A spokesman for the Maine Municipal Association tells The Portland Press Herald ( http://bit.ly/KSVaMb) he knows of no other Maine community that bans plastic foam.
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Information from: Portland Press Herald, http://www.pressherald.com
