In the late 20th and early 21st century, there has been a global movement towards the phase-out of polystyrene foam as a single use plastic (SUP). Full or partial bans of expanded and made up polystyrene foam, like many other single use plastics, have been enacted nationwide in many countries around the world. Bans for single use plastics have also been enacted at the sub-national or local level in many countries.
Legislation around the world
Summary
| Country | Legislation | Year | References |
|---|---|---|---|
 Andorra
|
Ban | 2023 | |
 Aruba
|
Ban | 2019 | |
 Antigua and Barbuda
|
Ban | 2017-2019 | |
 Austria (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Bahamas
|
Ban | 2020 | |
 Barbados
|
Ban | 2020 | |
 Belgium (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Belize
|
Ban | 2019 | |
 Bonaire
|
Ban | 2022 | |
 Bulgaria (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Chile
|
Ban | 2022 | |
 Costa Rica
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Croatia (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Cyprus (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Czech Republic (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Denmark (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Dominica
|
Ban | 2018 | |
 Ecuador
|
Ban | 2022 | |
 Estonia (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Fiji
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Finland (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 France (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Germany (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Greece (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Grenada
|
Ban | 2018 | |
 Guyana
|
Ban | 2016 | |
 Haiti
|
Ban | 2012 | |
 Hungary (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Iceland
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 India
|
Ban | 2022 | |
 Ireland (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Italy (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Jamaica
|
Ban | 2020 | |
 Latvia (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Lithuania (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Luxembourg (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Macau
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Maldives
|
Ban | 2022 | |
 Malta (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Marshall Islands
|
Ban | 2017 | |
 Mauritius
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Micronesia
|
Ban | 2020 | |
 Monaco
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Netherlands (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 New Zealand
|
Ban | 2022 | |
 Niue
|
Ban | 2018 | |
 Norway
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Papua New Guinea
|
Ban | 2018 | |
 Peru
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Poland (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Portugal (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Romania (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Saint Lucia
|
Ban | 2019 | |
 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
|
Ban | 2017 | |
 Samoa
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Seychelles
|
Ban | 2017 | |
 Sint Eustatius
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Slovakia (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Slovenia (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Spain (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Sri Lanka
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Suriname
|
Ban | 2019 | |
 Sweden (EU)
|
Ban | 2021 | |
 Taiwan
|
Ban | 2022 | |
 Thailand
|
Ban | 2022 | |
 Trinidad and Tobago
|
Ban | 2019 | |
 Turks and Caicos Islands
|
Ban | 2019 | |
 Tuvalu
|
Ban | 2019 | |
 United Kingdom
|
Ban | 2022-23 | |
 Vanuatu
|
Ban | 2018 | |
 Zimbabwe
|
Ban | 2017 |
Phaseout in the United States
As of April 2023, eight U.S. states and one territory have passed legislation to ban polystyrene foam. Maryland was the first state to institute a ban which went into effect on October 1, 2020. In Maine, a ban on polystyrene foam went into effect on July 1, 2021.Vermont passed a ban on polystyrene in 2019, which went into full effect on July 1, 2021.New York's ban went into effect on January 1, 2022.New Jersey's ban on polystyrene foam was passed in 2020 and went into effect on May 4, 2022.Colorado's ban on polystyrene foam was passed in 2021, with the ban taking effect on January 1, 2024.Virginia's ban on polystyrene foam takeout containers was passed by the Virginia General Assembly in 2021 and will go into effect for large businesses by July 2028 and for small businesses by July 2030. In 2021, Washington also passed a polystyrene ban, taking effect in 2023.
On January 1, 2016, Washington, D.C. banned polystyrene foam takeout containers. On January 1, 2021, the ban was expanded to include retail sale of polystyrene foam.
In California, the legislature passed SB54 in June 2022 as the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act. The law codifies extended producer responsibility (EPR) requirements for plastics, including a requirement that polystyrene be banned if recycling rates do not reach 25% by 2025. Recycling rates averaged 6% at passage, leading some to call the law a 'de facto ban', anticipating an inability to comply within three years. At least 128 cities in California have an existing polystyrene ban in some form. The City of Berkeley, California, passed the nation's first polystyrene foodware ban in 1988, while also requiring all disposable foodware to be degradable or recyclable. The city of San Marcos, California also passed a polystyrene foam ban in 2021.
Proposed legislation
As of April 2023, proposed legislation banning polystyrene has passed at least one legislative chamber in four states and one territory. In Connecticut, Substitute for SB 118 passed the state Senate in April 2022. The Delaware Senate passed SB51 in April 2023. In Illinois, the state House passed HB2376 on March 21, 2023.
In Oregon, the state legislature passed SB 543, after being approved in the Senate by a vote of 40-18 on April 26, 2023, and the state House by a vote of 20-9 on April 3, 2023. The bill awaits signing into law by Tina Kotek. The legislation prohibits use of all polystyrene containers for prepared food, or the offer for sale of polystyrene containers or packing peanuts, but permits use for raw egg, meat, seafood, and produce. Provisions would take effect starting January 1, 2025.
The territory of the Northern Mariana Islands passed HB21-89 in its House of Representatives in 2020.
In September 2021, Florida introduced a proposed phaseout of polystyrene foam food packaging. Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried, whose Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services oversees food safety in Florida, proposed a rule to phase out polystyrene in 40,000 grocery stores, food markets, convenience stores, and gas stations that the agency regulates in Florida. The Florida Legislature will consider the proposed rule in 2022.
Summary
| State / Territory | Year Enacted | Year Implemented | Details | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Colorado
|
2021 | 2024 | Covers ready-to-eat food containers (including hinged containers, plates, bowls, cups, trays) from retail food establishments. | CRS 25-7-506 |
 District of Columbia
|
2014 | 2016 | Covers food service products (including containers, plates, hot/cold cups) from food service businesses, including restaurants, cafes, grocery stores, food trucks, and cafeterias. Includes meat/vegetable trays, egg cartons, and other polystyrene items used to sell or provide food. Ban expanded in 2021 to include sale of packing peanuts and foam coolers. | D.C. ACT 20-385 & D.C.ACT23-223 |
 Maine
|
2019 | 2021 | Includes food containers from retail food and eating establishments, factories, farmers' markets, and retirement/nursing homes. Covers items packed outside Maine, but shipped to the state. Polystyrene raw meat/seafood trays and egg cartons banned starting 2025. Foam coolers for seafood exempt. | 38 MRSA Chapter 15-A |
 Maryland
|
2019 | 2020 | No person may sell, and no business/school may sell or serve polystyrene food containers (containers, plates, hot/cold cups, trays). Includes egg cartons (except if shipped empty into Maryland to pack eggs, or if eggs are packed in the state for Maryland consumers). Excludes containers for raw meat/seafood, nonfoam polystyrene, or food prepackaged in polystyrene foam. | Md. Code Ann., Environment §9-2201 to 9-2207 |
 New Jersey
|
2020 | 2022 | Includes food containers and serviceware (containers, plates, hot/cold cups, trays, cutlery). Includes foam egg cartons. Containers for raw meat/seafood, cups 2oz or less, long-handled polystyrene spoons, and food prepackaged in polystyrene foam banned starting 2024. | Title 13:1E-00.129 |
 New York
|
2020 | 2022 | Includes food containers and serviceware (clamshell, bowl, carton, lid, plate, trays) from any food service provider, retail food store, deli, grocer, hospital, adult care/nursing home, or school. Includes packing peanuts/loose fill, sold by any manufacturer or store. Excludes containers for raw meat/seafood, food prepackaged in polystyrene foam, and rigid polystyrene. | CHAPTER 43-B, ARTICLE 27, TITLE 30 |
 Vermont
|
2019 | 2021 | Includes food containers (plates, trays, hot/cold cups), and foam egg cartons. Excludes containers for raw meat/seafood, food prepackaged in polystyrene foam, and food packaged outside Vermont. | 10 V.S.A. § 6696 |
 Virginia
|
2021 | 2028 | Includes any food containers for retail food establishments. Implementation by small businesses takes effect 2030. | Va. Code Ann. § 10.1-1424.3 (2021) & 2022 HB30, Item 377#1c |
 Washington
|
2021 | 2023 | Sale of packing peanuts/void fill banned starting 2023. Beginning in 2024, includes any food containers (plates, bowls, trays, clamshell containers, hot/cold cups) and portable foam coolers. Excludes containers for raw meat/seafood, eggs, and produce. Excludes coolers for drugs or federally-defined medical/biological materials, or for shipping perishables from a wholesale retail establishment. | RCW 70A.245.070 |