MIRI: Miri City Council (MCC) is urging the food and drink providers to stop using polystyrene (often called styrofoam) food service ware and packaging.
They should look for alternative products instead.
In a press statement released today, the council disclosed it had confiscated a number of styrofoam products during its last operation last week.
It said it would continue enforcing the ban on styrofoam.
The council added, in a statement, although the state-wide ban on the products came into force on August 25, 2017, food and drink providers were still using them.
Styrofoam is made from styrene, a petroleum byproduct which is non-renewable and a heavily polluting resource.
Styrene is a known neurotoxin that is classified as reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen, meaning there is significant evidence linking styrene to human cancers.
Polystyrene is not recyclable and once discarded, persists in the environment for years.
Styrofoam is also a hazard to marine wildlife and harmful to humans.
The council has incurred heavy expenses to dispose of non- biodegradable solid waste.
It has also discovered that a large portion of the rubbish cleared from the past beach-cleaning campaigns comprised discarded styrofoam food containers.
Food service ware is defined as utensils, cutlery, tableware, cups, lids and plates intended for food or drink and used for storage, preparation, service or consumption.
Food packaging includes bags, boxes, wrappings, trays, bottles and other containers intended for food or drink and used in storage, preparation, service or consumption.
