NEW YORK — Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh, and Senators Liz Krueger and Eric Schneiderman and the League of Conservation Voters, joined by other elected officials, called upon McDonald’s and other restaurants and food service providers to stop using polystyrene, commonly known as Styrofoam. McDonald’s recently reintroduced Styrofoam cups to serve “Sweet Tea”—almost two decades after acceding to public pressure and removing Styrofoam from their restaurants.

“Polystyrene cups are used in a matter of minutes but remain in our waterways and landfills for centuries,” said Kavanagh, who was recently named a 2008 Environmental Star by the New York League of Conservation Voters. “With a wide array of environmentally friendly options available, there is no excuse for the food industry to use Styrofoam products. These new cups will now take their place in landfills next to all the clamshell containers McDonald’s stopped selling 18 years ago.”  

Polystyrene, a petroleum-based product, poses a widespread hazard to the environment and human health. Styrofoam takes hundreds of years to fully disintegrate, pollutes waterways, and is often mistaken for food by wildlife. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, polystyrene poses health risks as it is classified as a suspected human carcinogen and neurotoxin. Every day Americans throw away approximately 1,369 tons of Styrofoam products.