“Have an ‘A’ option and a ‘B’ and a ‘C’ option,” advised Chris Parks, sales manager for Pactive, which manufactures packaging items.

Parks spoke at a webinar hosted on Wednesday by Hill & Markes, the Amsterdam wholesale distributor of items such as food packaging shells as well as office and janitorial supplies.

Bill Miller, vice president of purchasing and marketing for Hill & Markes, said his company is already starting to phase out sales of certain foam packaging in anticipation of the upcoming ban. They also go to great lengths to educate their customers by telling them that the products will not be available next year. “Many are not aware of the upcoming ban and many options are currently very limited,” he said.

One of the challenges facing food industry players is the higher cost of alternatives to polystyrene foam, which is not only inexpensive, but effective in keeping foods and drinks hot or cold without melting or disintegrate.

“That’s one of the concerns,” Miller said, explaining that other options such as paper, aluminum or styrofoam, a cousin of styrofoam, are more expensive.

For example, according to Hill & Markes, a single hinged styrofoam clamshell container costs 12 cents, compared to 18 cents for an aluminum one. A polypropylene container filled with minerals costs 21 cents and a fiber container 29 cents.

A polystyrene school lunch tray costs 6 cents while a fiber tray costs 13 cents.

Multiply those items by millions and the cost becomes substantial.

Not all alternatives will be readily available either. Many food service providers are probably considering aluminum as another form of packaging. But currently there is a global shortage of this material, much of which comes from China.

Additionally, Miller and others have said supply chain problems are likely to persist until 2022. This is in part due to recent electricity cuts in China, which have slowed production at countless factories. the low.

And the upcoming Chinese New Year, a two-week festival starting in February, and the Winter Olympics, also in February and taking place in Beijing, are likely to result in more grunts.

The ban on single-use polystyrene foam, often known as styrofoam, was enacted in late 2020 after environmentalists long encouraged it. The substance can take hundreds of years or more to decompose in landfills or in the natural environment, and it can enter food and drink. The manufacturing process also releases ozone air pollution. Other states as well as some New York City municipalities have already enacted bans.

The ban will apply to restaurants, food trucks, grocery stores, schools and hospitals, to name a few.

Miller noted that there are some exemptions, such as pantries. And organizations will be able to apply for hardship waivers to the ban, although it’s unclear how many will be granted by the State Department of Environmental Conservation, which will oversee the ban. Those with a waiver, however, will need to obtain their styrofoam from out-of-state suppliers. Certain containers such as those containing raw meat or fish are also exempt.

He was unsure whether the ban would be delayed, as was the case with the ban on single-use plastic bags which was suspended in 2020, amid legal challenges.

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