Governor Glenn Youngkin unveiled his amendments to the General Assembly's budget which included a significant delay on the phase out of foam cups and take out containers.
Governor Glenn Youngkin unveiled his amendments to the Virginia biennium budget late Monday night. Included in his amendments is a significant delay on the phase out of foam cups and take out containers.
The budget passed by legislature in March included language to move forward the effective date of Virginia’s single use foam phase out to January 1, 2025. The original, bipartisan ban from Delegate Betsy Carr was set to go into effect in 2023 for large chain establishments. Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s amended dates significantly delays the phase out to 2028.
In 2021, Virginia became the sixth state to pass a ban on single use foam cups and take out containers. Several other states have since passed similar bans that have already gone into effect. Single use foam or expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam is particularly harmful to the environment and one of Virginia’s most commonly collected littered items.
We are disappointed in Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s decision to disregard the General Assembly’s effort to phase out harmful single use foam. Virginia legislators have confirmed their support multiple times for this popular, bipartisan ban.
Eliminating single use foam is supported by a bipartisan, majority of Virginians. Single use foam breaks apart easily and persist in the environment forever. Every bit of polystyrene ever made is still out there. Every day, month, or year that we wait to act, this harmful plastic is impacting our environment and harming wildlife.
Whether you are driving down a country road in rural Virginia, kayaking down the James River or walking through a city park, you have seen the impacts of plastic pollution and how much single use foam contributes to this issue.
The solution to the massive amounts of plastic waste in our environment is actually pretty simple: We need to ban or restrict the worst offenders, including polystyrene. We are calling on the Virginia General Assembly to once again confirm their support for this meaningful solution, reject the Governor’s amendment and implement this critical law in a timely manner.
Virginians can call on their legislators to reject a foam phase out delay by using our targeted action.
Virginia banned single use foam cups and takeout containers with a bipartisan vote in 2021, but less than a year before the ban was to go into effect for large chains, the phase out was delayed by 5 years.
Energy Conservation & Efficiency
