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(CNN) –
If you use straws or other plastic utensils in Seattle, United States, be prepared to pay a fine.
On Sunday, a rule banning such objects "came into effect at food service businesses, including restaurants, grocery stores, cafeterias, food trucks and institutional cafeterias."
Offenders will be liable to a penalty of $ 250.
Companies can opt for straw or straws and utensils made with more environmentally friendly materials, such as paper, steel and bamboo. Even so, the city suggests that companies only supply them if the client requests it
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"This is a stand against Plastic Pollution, "said Kate Melges, environmental organization Greenpeace, affiliate of CNN KIRO.
"And it's really a position on what should happen, a ban on all plastic products from one use."
Greenpeace says that 40% of plastics in the oceans come from disposable plastics, KIRO reported.
In recent years, Seattle has taken significant steps to reduce waste. In 2009, expanded polystyrene was banned (in some countries it is known as polystyrene, icopor or unicel). In 2010, it became mandatory that "food service items", with the exception of straws and utensils, be recyclable or compostable. In the same year, the city also ordered composting and recycling bins.
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Other cities, such as Miami Beach (Florida), Monmouth Beach (New Jersey) and several California municipalities, including Oakland and Berkeley, have banned the use of plastic disposable straws, but not utensils. New York introduced a law banning plastic straws in May.
A report published last year by the science journal Science Advances indicated that at the beginning of 2015, only 9% of plastics were recycled, 12% were incinerated and the remaining 79% found themselves in the environment.
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