WA State Bans PFAS in More Types of Food Packaging

The Washington State Department of Ecology recently released their 2nd report on alternatives to PFAS in food packaging to the State Legislature! The report bans PFAS in flat serviceware, open-top containers, closed containers, bags and sleeves, and bowls used for carry-out/take-out food starting in 2024. As a result of the first alternatives assessment report published in 2021, paper wraps and liners, food boats, pizza boxes, and plates with PFAS will be banned in 2023.

Ecology accepted comments on the scope of the 2nd report in spring 2021. More than 130 people of faith commented that getting these toxic chemicals out of our food packaging is important to faith communities and in alignment with our value of environmental justice. Not only does PFAS in food packaging pose health risks for consumers, it is also a serious environmental justice concern for the communities in which these chemicals are manufactured. This alternatives assessment process for PFAS in food packaging is a direct result of a bill Earth Ministry/WAIPL helped pass in the State Legislature in 2018.

In July 2021 the Department of Ecology announced that they were speeding up the timeline for the second alternatives assessment of PFAS in food packaging. They stated that stakeholder input led them to rethink their timeline and approach – this is a direct result of the Earth Ministry/WAIPL community speaking out!

Thanks in part to the Earth Ministry/WAIPL community’s faithful advocacy, take-out food containers and materials around the state will be PFAS free in just a few years! We will now turn our attention to following Ecology’s 3rd PFAS in food packaging alternatives assessment, which will focus on food packaging products intended to store food for longer periods of time, like butter wrappers, microwaveable popcorn bags, baking paper, and pet food bags.