Find a Styrofoam Ban (or Bans) in Your City / State 
Written by dinesh • 8 comments.
I was googling expanded polystyrene (typically known as “styrofoam”) food packaging bans the other day searching for a list of all the cities in the US that had banned polystyrene (aka PS). I was having quite a tough time finding the answer (though I eventually did… as any persistent googler does). 
As a result, I wanted to draw up a quick post with the findings. Enjoy!
There are 100+ total polystyrene bans across cities in the US. I’ve listed most of the major cities & counties with polystyrene bans below along with reference links to either the ordinances themselves or articles on the bans. The “effective date” for the ban is also provided.
Most of the full bans are for polystyrene food ware (e.g., to go containers) and force restaurants and businesses to use recycled plastic or compostable alternatives (awesome!) to cut down on trash and landfilling. The partial bans typically ban the use of styrofoam at any city owned building or event. If we’re missing any cities or counties, let us know!
Alameda, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 1/1/2008
Albany City – Styrofoam Banned – 9/1/2008
Aliso Viejo, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 6/2/2004
Berkeley, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 6/1/1990
Calabasas, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 4/1/2008
Capitola, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 6/1/2009
Carmel, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 1/1/1989
Emeryville, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 3/1/2007
Fairfax, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 1/1/1993
Freeport, ME – Styrofoam Banned – 1/1/1990
Glen Cove, NY – Styrofoam Banned – 6/1/1989
Hecules, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 5/1/2008
Huntington Beach, CA – Partial Styrofoam Ban – 4/19/2004
Laguna Beach, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 7/1/2008
Los Angeles, CA – Partial Styrofoam Ban –
Malibu, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 7/1/2005
Milbrae, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 1/1/2008
Monterey, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 8/17/2009
Newport Beach, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 6/1/2009
Oakland, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 1/1/2007
Pacific Grove, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 6/1/2008
Pacifica, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 1/1/2010
Palo Alto, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 4/22/2010
Pittsburg, CA – Partial Styrofoam Ban – 1/1/1993
Portland, OR – Styrofoam Banned – 6/12/1990
Rahway, NJ – Styrofoam Banned – 12/1/1996
Richmond, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 7/1/2010
San Bruno, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 4/1/2010
San Clemente, CA – Partial Styrofoam Ban – 3/1/2004
San Francisco, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 6/1/2007
San Jose, CA – Partial Styrofoam Ban – 11/10/2009
San Juan County, WA – Styrofoam Banned – 4/22/2010
San Mateo County – Styrofoam Banned – 4/1/2008
Santa Cruz, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 10/18/2008
Santa Monica, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 2/9/2008
Scotts Valley, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 6/17/2009
Seattle, WA – Styrofoam Banned – 7/1/2010
Sonoma, CA – Partial Styrofoam Ban – 1/1/1989
Suffolk County, NY – Styrofoam Banned – 1/1/1998
Ventura County, CA – Partial Styrofoam Ban – 10/1/2004
West Hollywood, CA – Styrofoam Banned – 7/1/1990
Other cities currently considering bans:
Chicago, IL – Proposed Styrofoam Ban
New York, NY – Partial Styrofoam Ban Proposed
Boston, MA – Proposed Styrofoam Ban
Philadelphia, PA – Proposed Styrofoam Ban
Hi Dinesh,
Great list! A couple to add in the “considering” list both Boston and Philadelphia have proposed styrofoam bans.
Thanks Stacey – I’ve added them to this list!
How are things going in Chicago?
Thanks Stacey-
Is this the most list currently up to date?
Hi Stacey,
What about areas that mandate the use of compostable plastics? Do you have a list?
Hey David – This list is fairly up to date. I compiled it in mid February of 2010.
As for a list of places that mandate the use of compostable plastics, I don’t have one. Some of the cities that have banned styrofoam though have also mandated the use of compostable food ware (e.g., San Francisco, CA or Richmond, CA).
Hope that’s helpful,
dinesh
[...] coastal cities have banned EPS packaging from city-owned buildings or functions because it is commonly associated with marine [...]
Hi, I’m interested in starting a campaign to add my city–Redwood City CA–to this list. Has this list been updated lately? It’s Feb 3 2011.
thanks for this list. any direction to studying other campaigns to ban EPS would be very helpful.
thanks!
Hey Laurie,
The list was compiled on Feb 18th 2010, but we update it from time to time when we find out about new bans. If you know of any that aren’t on this list, please let us know.
In terms of resources for starting a ban in your city, I would recommend reaching out to Stacey at nofoamchicago.org. Stacey’s running a campaign to get Styrofoam banned in Chicago and could probably give you a lot of advise on what’s worked well and what hasn’t. You can find contact information for Stacey here http://www.nofoamchicago.org/joinCampaign.html
Jennifer Ly from the City of Richmond (in California) may also be able to help you out. Jennifer is part of the sustainability team for the City of Richmond and helps support their styrofoam ban / compostable food ware ordinance. They’ve put together a very solid program that I think a lot of cities could learn from. You can find contact information for Jennifer and the City of Richmond’s sustainability team here http://www.ci.richmond.ca.us/index.aspx?nid=1824.
Hope that helps!
dinesh