Boston Council Committee Holds First Hearing on Polystyrene Ban Feasibility

BOSTON — July 16, 2025 — Boston City Council committee opens fact-finding hearing on a potential citywide polystyrene ban. The Committee on Environmental Justice, Resiliency, and Parks, chaired by District 1 Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata and co-sponsored by Council President Liz Breadon and Councilor Benjamin J. Weber, heard testimony Wednesday from Environment Department Director of Environmental Quality Alice Brown and Deputy Chief of Economic Opportunity and Inclusion Donald Wright on the feasibility of restricting styrofoam food service products. Brown confirmed 66 Massachusetts municipalities already have polystyrene bans and outlined city tools including bulk purchasing of alternatives and expanded dishwashing requirements, but acknowledged the city has no dedicated reuse staff, no count of polystyrene-dependent businesses, and no active grant-outreach program for the transition. Wright warned that any packaging switch would raise costs for small restaurants, particularly immigrant-owned establishments in neighborhoods like Chinatown, where polystyrene is embedded in familiar supply chains. Members of Girl Scout Troop 68277 of Dorchester, who helped catalyze the 2018 plastic bag ban, testified that their recycling drives have captured nearly 800 pounds of styrofoam since 2020 — and that the material remains far more prevalent in lower-income neighborhoods like Dorchester and Roxbury than in wealthier areas of the city.