Mayor Bill de Blasio has instructed all city agencies to stop purchasing single-use plastic foodware, as part of an effort to reduce the city's plastic pollution and decrease its carbon footprint. At a press conference Thursday morning at the Sims Municipal Recycling facility in Sunset Park, de Blasio signed an executive order directing all relevant agencies to begin reducing their use of single-use plastic foodware immediately, with full implementation of the ban by the end of the year. The order includes exceptions for medical purposes, emergency uses, and for individuals with disabilities who may need certain plastic products such as straws.
Calling the proliferation of plastic trash “a crisis,” de Blasio said the order will end the use of a variety of plastic foodware, including knives, spoons, forks, “the child of forks and spoons: the spork,” and plastic cups. As alternatives, city agencies will purchase paper straws, paper plates, and compost-friendly utensils made from cornstarch.
City agencies purchase at least 1.1 million pounds of single-use plastic foodware every year, and de Blasio’s executive order is expected to reduce that amount by 95 percent. The Sanitation Department collects some 36 million pounds of single use plastic foodware from the residential waste stream annually, while commercial establishments toss out “tens of millions more,” according to the city’s press release announcing the order.
For individuals with disabilities, some single-use plastic foodware remains a crucial component of their daily lives, particularly straws. A City Council bill to ban disposable plastic straws was introduced last year and provided exceptions for disabled people; later that year, Barclays Center and other eateries in NYC announced that they would voluntarily stop giving out straws and plastic stirrers, with similar exceptions.
Victor Calise, Commissioner of the New York City Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, said yesterday there will still be a sufficient reserve stock of plastic products at the request of the individual.
“People with disabilities are environmentalists too, and we help the Earth as much as we can, but the reality is, some people cannot use currently available alternatives and need plastic straws and foodware,” Calise explained. “For example, people with Multiple Sclerosis, people with high-level spinal cord injuries, people with Parkinson’s Disease, people with ALS… Unfortunately, currently available non-plastic alternatives don’t stand up to that use. They will crack or they will break.”
De Blasio’s announcement notes that “over 99 percent of plastics derive from fossil fuels and six percent of the global oil market is used to create plastic products. For each ounce of polyethylene produced—the plastic most common for single-use plastics—one ounce of carbon dioxide is emitted.” The administration expects the order will reduce New York City’s carbon emissions by approximately 500 tons per year.
"Climate change is the existential threat and we have to understand that plastics are inherently a big part of the problem," de Blasio said. "Every single time we purchase something plastic, we’re taking a step in the wrong direction."
The City currently spends approximately $1 million on contracts for single-use plastic foodware in the public sector. Asked what new contracts for non-plastic products might cost, de Blasio could not provide an estimate, telling reporters, “Short-term there often is a greater cost but we believe as the market evolves, that cost is going to come down quite a bit. We believe where there is a greater cost, it’s a cost worth paying for.”
De Blasio’s executive order comes on the heels of a statewide ban on single-use plastic bags. Passed as part of the state budget at the beginning of April, the new law also gives counties the option of imposing a 5 cent paper bag fee to encourage shoppers to bring their own reusable bags. The plastic bag ban, which has its own exceptions for restaurants, delis, and butchers, goes into effect in March 2020, and a number of City Councilmembers said they would introduce legislation for a paper bag fee before then.
Caitlin Kelmar, policy director for Councilmember Rafael Espinal, who introduced the straw ban bill, said they expect the legislation to come up for a vote in May. De Blasio said yesterday he supports the bill.
