plastics

Residents of the town of York in Maine voted to ban single-use plastic foodware in a special election on Saturday. York is the first town in Maine to pass such a ban on single-use plastic utensils.

Residents will vote Saturday on an ordinance drafted by high school students, local restaurants and environmental advocates.

The town of York will form a committee to study a proposal banning single-use plastic utensils, straws and other disposable food ware, with the goal of potentially bringing it to voters next May.

The town of York could soon become the first community in Maine to prohibit single-use plastic containers, utensils and cups. But the idea doesn't sit well with everyone.

The spill wasn't reported to the state until about a week later, after the Department of Environmental Protection received a complaint about waste coming ashore near Sears Island, and then visited the site. Cleanup continued for a few weeks, but some plastic remained in the environment.

A new study suggests there is far more plastic in the Atlantic Ocean than scientists estimated earlier, especially tiny pieces of plastic that can end up inside fish and other animals.

AUGUSTA, Maine_ Just a few weeks before Portland's single-use packaging ordinance goes into effect, the state is considering its own crackdown on plastic…