Texas Health and Safety Code Section 361.0961 preempts municipal regulation of foam food containers as solid waste. Austin has no polystyrene ban and cannot lawfully prohibit expanded polystyrene cups, plates, or takeout containers.
The 2018 Laredo Merchants decision interpreting Texas Health and Safety Code Section 361.0961 preempts Austin from regulating expanded polystyrene foam (often called Styrofoam) as a solid waste container. While cities like New York, San Francisco, and Maine adopted polystyrene foam container bans, Texas cities including Austin cannot. Austin restaurants, grocery stores, and food service businesses freely distribute polystyrene cups, clamshells, plates, and trays. Austin Resource Recovery promotes voluntary reduction through education and the city's Zero Waste plan, and offers limited drop-off recycling for clean expanded polystyrene blocks at recycling and reuse drop-off centers. No fees or restrictions apply to commercial use. Future regulation would require Texas legislative action to remove the preemption barrier.
No Austin ordinance restricts polystyrene foam containers; businesses face no fines or compliance obligations. State preemption blocks city enforcement of any foam container regulation.
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See how Austin's polystyrene foam rules rules stack up against other locations.
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