MAINE – Maine known as vacationland on its license plates, is aiming to be the next state to ban straws, cup lids and stirrers.
These items add waste and end up in waters, and on sides of roads as little in the vacation state, and lawmakers are aiming to reduce that.
The 103rd Maine legislature is voting to have these items banned and illegal to have at eating establishments or food establishments.
Specifics on this bill aim at restaurants and eating facilities, but not included are single-use in nursing homes, medical facilities, or hospitals.
If approved and put into law these items could be banned in January 1, 2022.
Here are the items on the list that are looking to be banned:
- Beverage lid plug or splash stick
- Drinking straw
Straws, plastic bags, food wrapper containers account for a large amount of single-use plastic waste that is polluting our oceans and waterways. Food wrappers and containers, which account for about 31 percent of all plastic pollution. They are followed by plastic bottle and container caps at 15.5 percent, plastic bags at 11.2 percent, and then finally plastic straws and stirrers at 8.1 percent.
Why straws then? Because they are so small people forget to recycle them so they become one of the top items on the above list that does not get recycled.
