By Shanna Fuld
After July 1, the city will no longer permit restaurants to use EPS products, commonly referred to as Styrofoam, a good and cheap insulator used to hold food and beverage products.
There will be a six-month grace period from July 1 until Jan. 1, 2016 during which businesses will be permitted to use whatever Styrofoam products they have in stock. Restaurants will be warned and fines will kick in after the new year. Non-profits and small businesses earning less than $500,000 in annual revenue may apply for hardship exemptions. The city Department of Education is replacing the typical foam lunch tray with compostable trays.
The reason for the ban is that Styrofoam is not a biodegradable material, though it can be recycled into other materials. Store owners using Styrofoam cups, bowls and containers will need to switch to materials like plastic or paper for their take-out products. This means that Queens businesses will be affected since the new containers are expected to cost more than Styrofoam, in many cases..
The impact is likely to range greatly. Restaurants owned by corporations stand to be less affected, while smaller businesses will need to make significant changes.
The local Dunkin Donuts may seem like a small neighborhood hub, but in reality, their policies are set by the big guys at Dunkin’ Brands. Senior Director of Corporate Social Responsibility Christine Miller said that for now all the city’s Dunkin Donuts branches will use a No. 5 recyclable polypropylene cup that complies with the regulations. This cup is accepted in the city recycling program. However, the company plans on continuing an investigation to find the best cup ecologically and economically and will come up with a new decision by the end of 2015.
But it’s not going to be a corporate decision for the many family-owned restaurants in Queens.
“It’s definitely going to change prices,” said Felix Hernandez, store manager of Krave It restaurant on Bell Boulevard in Bayside,. Prices for sandwiches at Krave It now run from $9.50 to $12, and Hernandez said the price of new, compliant containers could raise those prices between $1.75 and $2 per sandwich.
Restaurants that do not rely heavily on Styrofoam for take-out orders will not be subject to major changes, but those with a larger share of take-out businesses face major problems.
Jean Shim, who has managed the Bell Garden Chinese restaurant in Bayside for five years, said prices will have to go up because everything is becoming more expensive. She mentioned that in addition to paying more for plastic take-out containers, food prices have risen significantly.
“Everything is expensive,” she said.
But some businesses simply don’t want to deal with the change yet. For Ralph’s, an Italian ice store on 41st Avenue in Bayside, finding an inexpensive substance to keep ices cold is difficult. Paper is more expensive and some argue that Styrofoam does the best job at keeping items hot or cold.
“I’m not even dealing with it until the following season. I have six months to figure it out,” store owner Nina Foley said.
