January 1st You Won’t See Styrofoam Containers In Bangor Anymore

Bangor is looking to get a jump on the upcoming statewide ban on styrofoam containers. It won't be state law until January of 2021, but Bangor is going full force in just a couple short weeks. Wherever anyone serves food, it will be illegal to package it in polystyrene in anyway.

According to News Center Maine, Bangor will not allow styrofoam under any of these circumstances:

• convenience stores, restaurants, grocery stores, markets, or any retailers that sell food or beverages to customers
• food pantries, churches, community organizations, hospitals, or catered events
• any place that manufactures, processes, prepares, bottles, packages, handles, or stores food or beverages for retail or wholesale sale

Not all businesses see this as a bad thing. Aside from being an asset to the environment, some business, like Governor's in Bangor, see it as a chance to examine the impact on their business before having to roll it out across their entire  franchise.  Jason Clay, Director of Operations for Governor's restaurants, said this to News Center:

Bangor has generally been a community that has taken a look at that type of stuff and tried to make a faster push towards that. So, for us, it's a perfect opportunity to kind of test something at one store, get it right, and then we can roll it out to the rest of our stores statewide.

Naturally, the ban doesn't sit well with everyone, but that's just how it goes sometimes. Having been in the restaurant business, it will be an added expense, but not one that's likely to be the sole reason anyone has to shut their doors. A thorn in the side maybe, but not unbearable.

So we'll see on the 1st, what everyone's plan is. There are likely to be some growing pains, but Bangor will gladly show the rest of then state how it's done.