Proposal Would Ban Straws, Foam Food Containers In Sudbury

SUDBURY, MA — The Sudbury Board of Health this week will look at new proposals to ban certain plastic products in town, including items like plastic straws, stirrers, and polystyrene foam containers. The proposals may appear at this spring's Town Meeting as part of a larger effort to reduce plastic consumption in Sudbury.

The Board of Health will also review a measure that would allow retailers to charge 10 cents for paper bags. That measure is meant to encourage shoppers to opt for reusable bags, and is a followup to the 2018 plastic shopping bag ban.

The new bylaws are being proposed by Sustainable Sudbury and the Lincoln-Subdury High School Environmental Club. The proposals will be discussed with the Board of Health and Board of Selectmen before being submitted as Town Meeting articles.

Efforts to ban plastic straws and other plastic items have swept the nation. Americans use hundreds of millions of plastic straws per day, according to some estimates, and all that plastic ends up polluting the ocean. State lawmakers have proposed a straw ban, and cities like Seattle have already banned them.

In Sudbury, the draft bylaw would ban restaurants from giving out "disposable plastic straws, stirrers, or splash sticks," but would allow non-plastic versions of those utensils to be available upon request. The law would provide an exemption for the disabled or people with medical conditions who need straws to eat or drink.

The polystyrene ban in Sudbury would apply to takeout containers, including egg cartons, and trays used for raw fish and meat. The ban would also prevent Sudbury retailers from selling packing peanuts, foam coolers, and polystyrene pool toys. Those items could still be brought in from outside of town — for example, a package that uses packing peanuts to protect a fragile item.

Sudbury's plastic bag ban passed Town Meeting in 2017 and went into effect in 2018. The law allows retailers to provide single-use paper bags at checkout, but does not include a clause about charging for the bags.

The three proposed bylaws will be before the Sudbury Board of Health at 4 p.m. on Jan. 14 at the Department of Public Works conference room, 275 Old Lancaster Road.