But New York’s food cart operators are concerned about finding affordable alternatives 
 
 A New York ban on styrofoam food containers, announced today, raises the question: what will the halal carts do? The city found that the material cannot be recycled, which triggered the ban, set to go into effect in July with a six-month grace period for fines. De Blasio's mayoral ban will fulfill an initiative begun by his predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, who first suggested banning the material in his final State of the City address, in 2013. Administration officials believe that the ban will remove nearly 30,000 tons of expanded polystyrene from the city's streets, waterways and landfills, and it continues de Blasio's push to create a greener New York City. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) 
 
 The city will move to the forefront of a growing environmental trend by banning food establishments from using plastic foam containers starting this summer, Mayor de Blasio's administration said Thursday. Administration officials said the ban will have a grace period, without fines, until January 2016. Nonprofits and businesses with less than $500,000 in annual revenue could qualify for an exemption from the plastic foam ban, but they would have to prove that using nonfoam materials would create financial hardship. He says that the styrofoam containers could be replaced by containers made of aluminum, recycled paper or other compostable material. “Whatever price difference there are between types of containers are trivial and the costs have been absorbed by consumers,” he says.
– Diners, delis, and food carts in the country's biggest city have six months to find a greener alternative to the Styrofoam cups and takeout containers many of them use. New York has become the latest US city to ban foam containers, and the ban will take effect July 1, although there will be a grace period with no fines until January 2016, NBC reports. The initiative—introduced by Mayor Michael Bloomberg before he left office—will keep 30,000 tons of waste out of landfills every year, according to the city, which brought in the ban after it was unable to find an "environmentally effective, economically feasible, and safe" way to recycle polystyrene containers, the Guardian reports. Packing peanuts are also covered by the ban, although they will still be allowed in packages sent to the city from elsewhere. Nonprofits and businesses with under $500,000 in revenue can get exemptions if they can prove the switch will cause them financial hardship, although many establishments are expected to simply raise prices to cover the cost of the more expensive containers. "The cheapest one is the foam. If we go for the plastic and other materials—paper, let's say, for the coffee cups—it's extremely, very expensive," a deli employee tells amNewYork. "It will cost you 85% higher than the foam prices. That's a huge gap. It's not 5 cents, it's not 10 cents."