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State park vendors no longer allowed to offer single-use plastic foodware

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Illinois

Starting next year, you can still bring plastic spoons and cups into state parks — but they won’t be offered.

The change is part of a bill Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law earlier this month. Starting Jan. 1, 2023, state agencies and departments will be prohibited from procuring single-use plastic disposable foodware at state parks and natural areas.

Instead, vendors at these locations will have to offer either recyclable or compostable foodware. The legislation will affect Illinois’ 184 state parks and natural areas, which collectively host millions of visitors each year, according to the state Department of Natural Resources website.

“This is a modest attempt to begin to show that the state of Illinois, as a purchaser of products, is going to prefer compostable products,” said state Sen. Julie Morrison, a Lake Forest Democrat who sponsored the bill. “It’s really important that we get plastics out of our landfills and out of our whole use chain. We can do this.”

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 8:53 am

Comments

Glad to hear this.

Comment by very old soil Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 8:57 am
I’m glad we are learning (again) that we can’t keep burying everything. Check out the trash mound near Cahokia and the racetrack on I-55/70 heading into STL. It is literally dozens of times larger than the Cahokia Mounds themselves. A monument to our waste.

Comment by Vote Quimby Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 9:00 am
I would assume we will see this ban at the state fair as well.

Comment by Blue Dog Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 9:04 am
I get it, I really do, but I despise paper straws. A soggy straw 5 minutes into enjoying your drink is not enjoyable.

Comment by Peter Griffin Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 9:05 am
Good. All restaurants should be required to do this small step for the environment. Does the Bill cover plastic straws and water bottles?

Comment by Kelly Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 9:05 am
I largely can’t stand Julie Morrison’s political leanings, except on this issue.

I called her office with an idea to help, but they don’t want to hear from me because I’m not in her district. Oh well.

Comment by We've never had one before Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 9:06 am
>>>>> I despise paper straws.

Try titanium.
No leaching, no taste, no bacteria.

I keep titanium flatware, including chopsticks, in my laptop bag.

Comment by We've never had one before Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 9:08 am
==I despise paper straws. A soggy straw 5 minutes into enjoying your drink is not enjoyable.==

I get it but if everyone makes the change, market driven disposable straw, utensil and other technology will improve the end user experience and, at the same time, lower costs.

Comment by Kelly Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 9:09 am
Another benefit of moving away from plastic: it is oil-based. And every dollar we don’t spend on oil helps to lower the price which helps to drain the coffers of some of the worst people in the world (like Putin — the Russian invasion of Ukraine is funded primarily by oil and gas revenues). Lower oil prices are in the world’s interest (at least, the free world) so the less oil we consume, the lower the price, the better.

Comment by Dan Johnson Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 9:10 am
- Blue Dog - Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 9:04 am:

I would assume we will see this ban at the state fair as well.
I would agree with this, but kinda doubt they went that far.

Comment by Bruce( no not him) Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 9:16 am
– I largely can’t stand Julie Morrison’s political leanings, … –

With a lead in like that, I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t be more receptive.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 9:21 am
==I would assume we will see this ban at the state fair as well. ==

Probably eventually, but it’s gonna take a minute to coordinate that many vendors.

Comment by Arsenal Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 9:22 am
Wish they would ban plastic bags and styrofoam containers at stores and restaurants.

Comment by Amurica Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 9:32 am
It specifically exempts the State Fair.

https://ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?name=102-1081&GA=102&SessionId=110&DocTypeId=SB&DocNum=1915&GAID=16&SpecSess=&Session=

Comment by Google Is Your Friend Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 9:33 am
== Check out the trash mound near Cahokia and the racetrack on I-55/70 heading into STL. It is literally dozens of times larger than the Cahokia Mounds themselves. A monument to our waste.==

When I was a GA in grad school, I drove many out-of-town groups to Cahokia Mounds for events, conferences, etc. Don’t think there was ever a trip where someone didn’t point out the landfill thinking it was one of the mounds from a distance. Was always embarrassing to explain what it actually was.

Comment by SIUEalum Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 9:42 am
==When I was a GA in grad school, I drove many out-of-town groups to Cahokia Mounds for events, conferences, etc. Don’t think there was ever a trip where someone didn’t point out the landfill thinking it was one of the mounds from a distance.==

You also have Mount Springfield (or Mount Lincoln) off Sandhill road, on the northeast side of Springfield. Which is Republic Services’ landfill.

IIRC the Peoria County landfill west of Edwards (about 10 miles west of Peoria city proper) is on old coal mining land.

Comment by Just Sayin Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 10:16 am
==I despise paper straws. A soggy straw 5 minutes into enjoying your drink is not enjoyable.==

The industry has changed dramatically, not necessarily having to use paper but other plant-based products, i.e. Hemp- fabulous products come from this crop and it would be a great incentive not only for farmers, but industry opportunities!

Comment by JuMP Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 10:27 am
>>>>>– I largely can’t stand Julie Morrison’s political leanings, … –

>>>>>With a lead in like that, I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t be more receptive.

I didn’t lead with that or even mention it when I made the phone call. Gimme a break.

Comment by We've never had one before Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 10:30 am
A good first step.

Forward-looking county forest preserves should be jumping on this bandwagon too.

Unfortunately, my county has decided to monitize the forest preserves and allows food trucks to hold events on the preserve property, which is then littered with straws, wrappers, etc.

I’d go out of my way to drive to a forest preserve with such a policy. Then if I want to see litter all over the place, I’ll just go to my local county forest preserve.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 11:14 am
Well this is great, but a compostable product is better than a disposable product only if it can actually be composted. Things don’t decompose in a landfill, and a “compostable” fork takes up just as much space in a landfill as a plastic one. So the next step is collecting the compostable (and recyclable items) and getting them to the correct facilities to be composted or recycled. A good first step to be sure, though.

Comment by Who else Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 11:23 am
I thought I posted this comment an hour ago but something must’ve happened. As it said just above, this is great but hopefully they will be collecting these to put them in industrial compost or anaerobic digestion facilities. They will not break down in a domestic compost bin. Compostable plastics can’t be disposed of in your garden or green waste collection.

Comment by One more try Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 11:48 am
Adding, I have much experience in this area and I’ve seen countless organizations make this leap only to have to landfill these compostable food ware items as there were no facilities nearby and the logistics was too costly.

Comment by One more try Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 11:50 am
Won’t matter at Lincoln’s New Salem after the IDNR debacle that shuttered the food stand.

We took my family from California out there on Fourth of July weekend and left really disappointed. I counted one re-enactor, the concessions were closed and the place looked to be in a little disrepair.

Comment by Cool Papa Bell Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 11:52 am
There are a ton of compostable products that function just like plastic. Same is true with disposable straws (not those awful cardboard straws but plant-based plastic). They are slightly more expensive (I’ve talked with restaurants about this) but that is a manageable issue. This is a good development.

Comment by New Day Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 12:28 pm
==I despise paper straws==Agreed. Got a frappe at Starbucks last summer. Got a few miles up the road and the straw got soggy and collapsed when I tried to suck up the thick drink. Had to throw away half a $5+ drink. Complained to Starbucks and they gave me a free drink. That rant aired, I am all for biodegradable food containers and utensils if they are functional. Hopefully the cost won’t be too much of a burden for concessionaires and vendors. Some of the state parks (Stephen Forbes comes to mind) have struggled to keep their restaurants and concessions open, despite having very nice facilities.

Comment by MoralMinority Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 1:01 pm
My family and I camp in Illinois State Parks - we always comment that there is NO recycling stations available in the camping areas and very little in the way a recycling stations in the parks themselves. A long holiday weekend of camping easily fills the provided dumpsters of many recyclable materials. I’m not sure I see the logic in requiring vendors to provide compostable utensils if no recycling stations are required or provided.

Comment by twinmama03 Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 3:17 pm
==I counted one re-enactor==
I used to participate in living history events at New Salem until the new site managers actively discouraged reenactor participation. Same situation at Apple River Fort up by Galena. Living history programs across the state have suffered greatly since DNR absorbed IHPA and took over management of all the state historic sites.

Comment by Blue Room Curtains Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 3:30 pm
==I used to participate in living history events at New Salem until the new site managers actively discouraged reenactor participation.==

Although 2020 and possibly 2021’s events would have been cancelled due to COVID, have there still been “Candlelight Tours” at New Salem in early October since DNR absorbed IHPA? Usually always tying in with Spoon River Scenic Drive weekends in Fulton and Knox counties. I haven’t heard anything about these events in several years.

Comment by Just Sayin Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 4:26 pm
Blue Room Curtains brings up an interesting, if off topic, point. It seems like there’s never any follow up on if the changes to State government are working, DNR taking over IHPA being a perfect example. Whether it’s something GOMB or the Auditor General does, any sort of analysis of things that are working or not working would be helpful for future decisions.

Comment by MyTwoCents Thursday, Jul 14, 22 @ 5:06 pm
Is it time for all of Illinois’ presidential-related sites, anything related to Lincoln, Grant, Reagan and Obama (plus Hillary Clinton’s childhood home in Park Ridge) to come entirely under the control of the National Park Service? In addition to the Lincoln Home as NPS has run for over 50 years. This includes everything from the non-State Historical Library portion of the ALPLM, to New Salem, the Galena Grant sites, all the way down to something as small as Lincoln’s Log Cabin and the childhood home in Monmouth that Reagan lived in for about a year around 1918. Everything presidential-related in Illinois under NPS and not run by DNR, the ALPLM as an independent agency, or in private hands. This idea is long overdue.

Comment by Just Sayin Friday, Jul 15, 22 @ 8:10 am