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Styrofoam ban going into effect in Annapolis

Posted at 5:39 PM, Aug 22, 2019
and last updated 2019-08-22 17:43:27-04

ANNAPOLIS — Annapolis is one of Maryland's shining jewels and the Annapolis mayor want to keep it that way. That's why starting in September, the capital city will enact a Styrofoam ban.

Jackie Guild is the director for the office of environmental policy for the mayors office. She says Styrofoam is bad for the environment. As we know Styrofoam in many forms can take many years to break down, some estimates are 500 years and some say it never breaks down completely. Either way, when Styrofoam gets tossed away, it breaks up into small pieces.

This should be no surprise to businesses effected by this. The city sent out letters to all involved in May when this passed and advised owners to start using up their Styrofoam supply to get ready for the September 1st start date. It's not just Styrofoam the city is looking at to improve the environment.

"We have the pump stations that are going in, we have the Styrofoam, we enacted legislation last year to protect our forest and we are starting to put in electric vehicle charging stations."

The ban will effect nine Anne Arundel County Schools and 7 private schools.