Illinois House lawmakers approve bill phasing out plastic foam food packaging

Legislation to phase out single-use plastic polystyrene foam food containers starting in 2024 advanced out of the Illinois House on Tuesday after a 67-43 vote. The bill now goes to the Senate, where it has been placed on first reading.

HB2376, introduced in February and sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, states that beginning in 2024, a retail establishment may not sell or distribute disposable food service containers composed wholly or partly of polystyrene foam.

The bill exempts entities like food pantries, soup kitchens, not-for-profit corporations that provide food to those in need or restaurants with a gross annual income under $500,000 per location. It also exempts federal, state or local agencies that provide food to those in need. This exemption lasts for one year after the bill goes into effect.

Organizations like the Ocean Conservancy, the Illinois Environmental Council, Alliance for the Great Lakes and Illinois Public Interest Research Group praised the bill's progression to the Senate in a joint statement to the Recycling Today Media Group.

The Ocean Conservancy said across the state, volunteers with The Alliance for the Great Lakes have collected nearly 16,000 foam takeaway containers as part of Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup (ICC). In the last 10 years, the Ocean Conservancy says ICC volunteers have collected more than 57,000 tiny foam pieces from Illinois’ beaches and waterways. Globally, ICC volunteers have collected nearly 8 million foam takeout containers, plates and cups since 1986.

"[This] vote is a huge step forward in our general assembly acknowledging that we cannot recycle our way out of the plastic pollution crisis," said Jen Walling, executive director of the Illinois Environmental Council. "We've been building support for upstream policy solutions like this one for decades, and we're now closer than ever to seeing Illinois become a leader in tackling the worst of the worst when it comes to toxic plastic pollution in our state."

Andrea Densham, senior strategic adviser for the Alliance for the Great Lakes, said plastic pollution is a major threat to Lake Michigan and the people and wildlife that depend on it. Tackling the plastic pollution problem will require an upstream move to prevent pollution at the source, which this bill would assist in doing.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates Americans throw away almost 70 million plastic foam cups every day. Approximately 22 million pounds of plastic enter the Great Lakes annually and over half of that ends up in Lake Michigan. Eight states and roughly 200 cities and municipalities have enacted bans on polystyrene foam containers.