Mayor Bill de Blasio signed an executive order that will end the direct City purchase of unnecessary single-use plastics in favor of compostable or recyclable alternatives.
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New York City purchases at least 1.1 million pounds of single-use plastic foodware every year, which includes plastic straws, cutlery, plates, bowls, cups, and trays.
This Executive Order will reduce New York City’s carbon emissions by approximately 500 tons per year, decrease plastic pollution, and reduce risks to wildlife.
The City estimates this EO will reduce the purchase of single-use plastics by city agencies by 95%, and will begin implementation by the end of the year.
The Administration recognizes that certain single-use plastic items including plastic straws are a continued necessity for some people—including New Yorkers with disabilities—who cannot use currently available alternative products and affirms the ability of all individuals to receive single-use plastic items without question or cost upon request.
Under this executive order, a sufficient supply of single-use plastic foodware will continue to be made available for anyone who requests such items and maintained for other purposes including emergency preparedness and medical uses.
As a result of the executive order, no new contracts will be signed for single-use plastic foodware other than to maintain a sufficient supply of certain items to be provided upon request.
All relevant agencies are directed to begin reducing their use of single-use plastic immediately and must also prepare a reduction plan within 120 days.
Full implementation of these reduction plans is targeted for the end of the year.
Sustainability and accessibility are not mutually exclusive and this executive order is a model for other municipalities that are working to create an environmentally conscious plan that meets the needs of everyone.
Single-use plastic products, which are designed to be used once and then thrown away, are a pervasive threat to our neighborhoods, waterways, and climate.
Across New York City, approximately 36 million pounds of single use plastic foodware is collected from our residential waste stream.
Tens of millions more pounds are collected from commercial establishments.
Discarded plastics also get discarded as litter and washed into waterways, impacting water quality and harming plant and animal life in New York City’s ecosystems.
Reducing single-use plastic use, while simultaneously maintaining a sufficient supply of certain single-use plastic items since some people cannot use alternative products, will lessen the City’s reliance on petroleum-based products in a way that takes the needs of all New Yorkers into account. ■
A hyperactive weather pattern will bring an expansive low pressure system across mainland U.S., resulting in widespread impactful weather to progress from west to east across the country through the next few days.