OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
sSB-118
AN ACT CONCERNING THE USE OF CERTAIN POLYSTYRENE
PRODUCTS.
Primary Analyst: MR 3/21/22
Contributing Analyst(s): SB
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 23 $ FY 24 $
Technical Education and Career
System
GF - Cost None See Below
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 23 $ FY 24 $
Local and Regional School
Districts
STATE
MANDATE
1
- Cost
None $2-2.8 million
statewide
Explanation
The bill requires each school district, regional school district, regional
vocational technical school, and constituent unit of higher education to
develop a plan by July 1, 2023, to discontinue the use of expanded
polystyrene trays. The plan requirement is not anticipated to result in a
fiscal impact to local and regional school districts or the regional
vocational technical schools, as they have staff with the purchasing
experience necessary to amend existing contracts and create the plans.
To the extent that each plan's requirements are followed, the bill
1
State mandate is defined in Sec. 2-32b(2) of the Connecticut General Statutes, "state
mandate" means any state initiated constitutional, statutory or executive action that
requires a local government to establish, expand or modify its activities in such a way
as to necessitate additional expenditures from local revenues. 2022SB-00118-R000066-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 3
results in a state mandate and a statewide annual cost to local and
regional school districts, including the Connecticut Technical Education
and Career System, of up to approximately $2 million to $2.8 million,
beginning in FY 24, associated with discontinuing the purchase and use
of the trays. The cost per district will vary by the size of the district, the
number of trays used, and the specific contract. It is estimated that
replacing polystyrene trays with trays made of recycled materials
results in an increased cost of $18 to $25 for each case of 500 trays.
Connecticut public schools provide 46 million lunches and 18 million
breakfasts annually. While the bill does not specifically state that
districts must use trays made of recycled materials, it is the most
common replacement of polystyrene trays. Assuming that a tray is used
for each lunch, the additional statewide cost for purchasing lunch trays
made of recycled materials is approximately $1.7 million to $2.3 million.
Assuming 50% of breakfast meals are served with a tray, the statewide
cost for breakfast trays is between $324,000 and $450,000. The cost to
each district for purchasing replacement trays will vary.
A small district serving approximately 350,000 meals will incur
annual additional costs of approximately $12,600 to $17,500. A medium
sized district serving 1.8 million meals will incur annual costs of
approximately $64,800 to $90,000. Larger districts serving 2.5 million
meals will incur annual costs of $90,000 to $125,000. If a district instead
purchases reusable plastic trays to replace all polystyrene trays, a more
significant cost results. It is estimated that reusable plastic trays average
$10-$12 per tray. In addition to the larger one-time cost of purchasing
the trays, districts would incur additional ongoing, significant costs
related to staff, dishwashing equipment, plumbing, electrical, and
maintenance costs.
Additionally, the bill prohibits restaurants or caterers, beginning on
July 1, 2024, from providing single-use expanded polystyrene food and
beverage containers to customers, with certain exceptions. It creates a
graduated set of penalties for violations of the bill's provisions and
allows local health districts or departments, in addition to the
Departments of Consumer Protection, Health, and Energy and 2022SB-00118-R000066-FN.DOCX Page 3 of 3
Environmental Protection to enforce the ban. This does not result in a
fiscal impact to the state or municipalities in either FY 23 or FY 24 as the
prohibition on single-use containers begins in FY 25.
The Out Years
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to the extent of tray use among school
districts.
It may also result in a minimal revenue gain to the General Fund and
various municipalities to the extent, local health departments enforce
the prohibition (since the bill requires half of the revenue from fines
must be remitted to the municipality where the violation occurred). It is
estimated that less than $5,000 will be generated annually from
violations of the bill’s provisions.