Why Bans Are Bad For Business

• Bans are likely to hurt locally-owned businesses because they limit choice and increase costs. When the City of Malibu enacted a polystyrene ban, a local yogurt shop was forced to raise prices to counter the higher cost of paper cups – an annual cost increase of over $30,000!
• In reality, bans are really just a hidden tax on shop owners, who must pass the cost on to their customers. It is believed that any restriction – be it a ban or tax – ignores the real concern, which is litter.
• Some alternatives like compostable bio-based packaging may not perform as well when holding certain products at hot temperatures, may not be available in large quantities now, and is likely two to three times the cost of traditional plastics.
• We support protecting our environment, reducing litter, reducing material going to our landfills and beautifying our city. This is best achieved by promoting recycling, not onerous bans or fees on individual products.
• Many communities are collecting food service and non-food service polystyrene packaging for recycling purposes. For example, the City of Los Angeles accepts clean polystyrene foam cups in their curbside recycling program. For a list of cities that offer curbside recycling of packaging and clean food service polystyrene, please visit www.dart.biz/recycleCA or earth911.com.
• We oppose proposals that would, for example, ban polystyrene food service containers. Bans will only increase costs, negatively impact customers during these very challenging economic times, and do little, if anything, to improve the environment because unintended environmental impacts are often overlooked.