Already effective from January 1, 2016, a new law named Council Bill 41-14 bans the usage and consumption of all Styrofoam products in the county. Passed by the Montgomery County Council, it also states all restaurants and food vendors must use recyclable materials instead, which will go into effect in a year later.

According to the Washington Post, the reason for the ban is a direct way to combat contamination of the environment, mainly “…[To] reduce pollution in streams and rivers”. In fact, counties in other states, namely New York, Seattle, San Jose, and San Francisco have also passed this ban.

However, Styrofoam is very efficient and inexpensive, so to all of a sudden subsidize it with recyclable materials will not come cheap. According to the county’s fiscal and economic impact statement, or FEIS, the county will have to spend $219,000 in order to set up this change, and the estimated combined value of money lost from all restaurants will be $16.2 million.

Enforcement of this law is casual, as according to the bill it will be “…[On] a complaint driven basis. Meaning, the council will check for violations solely from reports from the public, such as emails or phone calls.

Seemingly harmful for the local food industry, the Chinese restaurant Jumbo Jumbo said, “The cost is higher now that we can’t use Styrofoam, but it doesn’t really affect us that much.” Similarly, Levande Patisserie, who works at the French bakery Vie de France said, “We switched to paper cups now, and they’re both cheap, so it doesn’t matter.” In contrast, IHOP said, “It was inconvenient at first, to find the right cups, but the cost wasn’t really a problem.”

Despite the FEIS, the locals do not feel affected, and when they are, only from temporary inconvenience. This attempt to improve the local environment is continued from the taxing on plastic bags back in 2011, and will most likely not be the last.