It was a win for science and a loss for Team de Blasio last week when a judge struck down the mayor’s bid to outlaw Styrofoam.
Justice Margaret Chan overturned the ban on Styrofoam and related products, citing clear-cut evidence that recycling the materials could save the city at least $400,000 a year.
Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia had insisted the city would save $400,000 a year if 40 percent less Styrofoam went into landfills.
A group of business owners challenged the ban, arguing they hadn’t been given time to prove Garcia wrong in claiming that recycling Styrofoam “would not be environmentally efficient [or] economically feasible.”
The judge slapped the de Blasio functionary for fudging the facts: “The commissioner’s concern is not justified given the abundant evidence showing a viable and growing market for not just clean expanded polystyrene foam but post-consumer material.”
The mayor’s office promises to soldier on. “These products cause real environmental harm, and we need to be able to prevent nearly 30,000 tons of expanded polystyrene waste from entering our
landfills, streets and waterways,” said de Blasio spokeswoman Ishanee Parikh. “We are reviewing our options to keep the ban in effect.”
Here’s a hint: Option No. 1 is to not simply ignore inconvenient truths.