Virginia foam ban begins in one year

Let the countdown to zero waste begin! Starting July 1st, 2025, Virginia’s large chains (20 or more locations), will no longer use single use foam cups and take out containers. Smaller establishments will have until 2026 to comply with the ban.

Why ban expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam?

Single use foam cups and takeout containers are terrible for our environment. They easily become litter and when they do, they remain in our environment for generations because they never actually decompose. Instead, foam breaks down into tiny pieces. Animals mistake these bit of plastic for food and can be killed or injured by plastic foam pollution.

The foam eventually breaks down so small it becomes microplastics- ending up in our drinking water, food chain and even the air we breath. Nothing we use for a few minutes should pollute our planet for generations to come.

History of Virginia’s foam ban

Virginia’s ban on single use foam has enjoyed bipartisan support in the General Assembly and broad public support across the Commonwealth. This has not translated to the smoothest path to implementation. Let’s take a look at the history of Virginia’s historic law.

2018– Environment Virginia launched our Wildlife Over Waste campaign, calling on our leaders to ban single use foam! Over the course of the next three years, our outreach team talked to over 100,000 Virginians and collected more than 50,000 petitions calling on their elected officials to eliminate foam cups and take out containers.

2020– Delegate Betsy Carr introduced a bill to ban foam cups and take out containers (starting in 2023 for large chains, 2025 for smaller establishments). The bill passed out of all of its committees in both chambers and passed with bipartisan support in the House of Delegates. Unfortunately, a reenactment clause was added on the Senate floor which meant the bill had to pass all over again in 2021.

2021– The bill was back again and once again passed bipartisanly out of its committees. This time it made it across the finish line when it passed in both chambers and was signed into law by Governor Ralph Northam! Virginia became the 4th state to ban single use foam.

2022- Unfortunately, a change in administration meant the ban was in danger. Through the budget, the ban was delayed significantly and would not fully go into effect until next decade under the delay. So we kept organizing…

2024- The significant delay was lifted and the General Assembly moved forward the dates to 2025 and 2026 (bipartisanly through the budget). While this means the ban was ultimately still delayed, Virginia leaders proved to be serious about taking action on this important issue and supported a timely implementation. Governor Youngkin amended this action but the General Assembly prevailed!

While we are so excited for our countdown to foam free Virginia, we are also ready to fight the plastic industry’s last minute attempts to rollback this important law during the 2025 General Assembly.

For now, we celebrate! The path has not been easy but it has shown the tremendous support for plastic pollution solutions in Virginia.