A perennial debate in the Connecticut legislature is back with lawmakers once again considering legislation that would ban the use of disposable plastic straws, utensils, cups and other takeout containers. The effort, House Bill 6229, would ban single-use plastics and polystyrene containers — better known under the brand name Styrofoam — from restaurants, food trucks, schools and other public buildings starting on Jan. 1, 2026. It’s the latest in a string of similar proposals that have elicited mixed reactions from the public and drawn persistent opposition from the restaurant industry, which relied heavily on takeout business during the COVID-19 pandemic. Proponents, however, say those arguments are losing steam. “The pandemic’s over and half of your restaurants are already listening to their customers,” by purchasing more environmentally-friendly products made out of paper and biodegradable materials, said state Rep. Joe Gresko, D-Stratford, who has been a leader in the push to ban single-use plastics. Whereas many restaurants once saw only a handful of takeout orders a night, Gresko said Connecticut eateries now do a larger portion of their business through delivery services such as Uber Eats and Door Dash, where customers are already paying a premium to have meals delivered to their doorstep. “What’s another 10 cents for a container?” he said. “If anything, the volume of takeout containers is increasing, so let’s be more environmentally sensitive about that.” In testimony that was submitted to lawmakers ahead of a public hearing on the bill Monday, however, a lobbyist for the state’s largest trade association raised concerns. Pete Myers of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association said the legislation would raise costs for consumers, and he pointed to a lack of widely-available alternatives to plastic. “Sustainable alternatives to single-use plastics, such as compostable or biodegradable products, are not yet widely available or economically feasible for all businesses,” Myers said. “The supply chain for these materials is still developing, and businesses may face difficulties in sourcing sufficient quantities.” In order to address those concerns, Myers requested lawmakers push out the timeline for implementing a ban and provide additional resources for business to make the switch. State Rep. Joe Gresko, D-Stratford, holds a fork made out of plant starch and marketed as an alternative to single-use plastics. Grekso, a former co-chair of the Environment Committee, is involved in an effort to ban such plastic utensils in Connecticut. CREDIT: JOHN MORITZ/ CTMIRROR.ORG The bill would also leave it up to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to issue guidelines for businesses and penalize violators of the ban on single-use plastics. DEEP officials told lawmakers they weren’t sure they’d have capacity to carry out effective enforcement. “We do support, broadly, policies that reduce the amount of waste and I think we do, of course, support reduction in plastic use,” Deputy Commissioner Emma Cimino told lawmakers. “I think many of the things contemplated in this bill would just be difficult for the department to do and would require additional resources.” Connecticut lawmakers previously sought to curb waste pollution by implementing a ban on single-use plastic bags, which went into effect in 2021. Katie Dykes, the commissioner of DEEP, said Monday that while that law has been largely effective in reducing the amount of litter from plastic bags, it has also produced some less desirable side effects such as people switching to thicker, more durable plastic bags that end up getting thrown away anyway. “If you walk around Connecticut today, you can see that we’re not seeing those plastic bags in the trees and stuck in the brush and the waterways,” Dykes said. “I mean, it certainly has been a success in that regard.” In states that have taken an additional step by banning or restricting other single-use plastics, including New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island, the alternatives have also fueled public backlash and frustration — particularly paper straws that many customers complain get soggy and fall apart. President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to stop purchasing or providing paper straws in government buildings in one of his first executive actions taken upon returning to the White House. Advocates of a ban include a broad range of environmental groups, wildlife experts, along with zoos and aquariums, who point to the global problem of pollution caused by cheap, readily-disposable plastics. “I’ve witnessed first-hand the alarming volume of plastic waste in our communities,” said MaryEllen Mateleska, the senior director of education and conservation at Connecticut’s Mystic Aquarium. Roughly 80% of beach litter is made up of plastics that can get swept into the ocean, Mateleska said, where it slowly breaks down down into smaller and smaller particles knows as microplastics, which wind up being digested by a wide range of marine animals. Those consequences were apparent last month in the death of a young seal, Chappy, who was rescued by staff at the aquarium after being found roaming the streets on New Haven. According to a release from the aquarium, small bits of plastic were found in Chappy’s stomach that, while not directly responsible for his death, highlighted “the threat that marine debris, especially plastics, poses to marine animals.” ...read more read less