DC Mayor To Sign Bill Banning Styrofoam

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mayor Vincent Gray plans to sign a bill that would ban the use of plastic foam food containers in the District of Columbia.

The ban on Styrofoam and similar materials is part of a larger environmental cleanup bill approved by the D.C. Council.

Gray plans to sign the bill on Tuesday. The District would join cities, including Seattle and San Francisco, that have banned plastic foam for environmental reasons. The ban will take effect starting in 2016. Meat trays in grocery stores will be exempt.

Four years ago, the District imposed a 5-cent fee on plastic bags, which advocates credit for reducing the number of discarded bags that end up in the Anacostia River.