The 2023 Senate Bill 543 (ORS 459.465 to 459.477) prohibits food vendors from using polystyrene foam containers for prepared food, prohibits the sale of polystyrene foam containers or polystyrene foam packing peanuts, and prohibits the sale of foodware containers with added PFAS.
PFAS are a group of chemicals that are considered “emerging environmental contaminants” because public knowledge about their harmful effects and how they’re regulated are relatively new or undeveloped. PFAS are water soluble and highly mobile, and can accumulate in living organisms. Many newer PFAS transform into highly persistent perfluorinated chemicals in the environment, and can last for hundreds to thousands of years, depending on the PFAS compound.
PFAS have been manufactured and used in a variety of industrial processes and consumer products worldwide since the 1940s. PFAS have been found to be present in soil, surface water, groundwater, wastewater treatment plant effluents and biosolids, air, numerous consumer goods, food packaging, and at some level in the blood of every human being in the U.S., and likely globally.
Effective Jan. 1, 2025
Prepared food containers
- Food vendors may not use polystyrene foam containers for prepared food .
Prohibited for sale
- Polystyrene foam containers
- Polystyrene foam packaging peanuts
- Foodware containers with intentionally added PFAS
View the Fact Sheet: Foodware Containers and Polystyrene Foam
Frequently asked questions
No, the law does not exempt any specific industries, and it does not authorize DEQ to make exemptions.
The law prohibits the sale of polystyrene foam packaging peanuts in or into Oregon. It does not prohibit “polystyrene plastic material, other than polystyrene foam packaging peanuts, that is used solely for packing or protecting other items during storage, shipping or other transportation." (459.465)
Under some circumstances SB 543 (and ORS 459.465 to 459.477) applies to durable foodware containers. ORS 459.474 prohibits the sale or distribution of foodware containers when PFAS substances are intentionally added to the containers. Foodware containers are items used for serving or containing prepared food. For the restriction to apply, the container 1) must be used for serving or containing prepared food and 2) the PFAS substances were intentionally added to the container.
If the “other items" are used for serving or containing prepared food, the restriction would apply. The restriction would not apply toward items used for other purposes, such as preparing the food.
No, business may not use or sell prohibited materials after Jan. 1, 2025.