Proposed ban on Styrofoam containers to go before SLO City Council

Styrofoam may soon go the way of the plastic bag — at least in San Luis Obispo — and that has some local business owners worried.

Some San Luis Obispo restaurant owners and managers say the city’s proposed ban on expanded polystyrene food containers, commonly known as Styrofoam, would hurt their businesses.

The San Luis Obispo City Council will consider an ordinance Tuesday banning the use of expanded polystyrene food and drink containers and requiring food vendors to use eco-friendly alternatives.

The new rules would also prohibit the retail sale of Styrofoam products not covered with a more durable material, such as foam plates, cups or small foam ice coolers.

More than 80 cities in California have similar regulations, but San Luis Obispo would be the first in the county to ban expanded polystyrene.

City officials say expanded polystyrene, which isn’t biodegradable, can easily break into small pieces that are difficult or impossible to remove.

A Caltrans study estimated that 15 percent of storm drain litter is expanded polystyrene. Another study found that it is the second most common form of beach debris in California, according to a report by Greg Hermann, the city’s special projects manager.

The city has received more than 30 comments from business owners and managers concerned that the proposal would cut into their profit margin or prompt them to increase their prices. Some urged the city to look into recycling options instead of supporting an outright ban.

One of the comments came from Marjorie Johnson, owner of Margie’s Diner, who wrote that she uses about 800 to 1,000 containers a week, plus cups.

“Banning these containers will have an impact on my business — very costly!” she wrote to the council.

Johnson said that because of the big portion sizes offered at her restaurant, many people take food to go in Styrofoam containers, or they order takeout.

“Foam has been a cheap material that insulates the food we give to customers,” wrote Nancy Eberwein, owner of Piemonte’s Italian Deli on Monterey Street. “I am excited to see alternative materials introduced to our business when they are affordable and truly compostable.”

However, the city also received some positive comments on its open city hall webpage.

“This seems like a no-brainer,” Jennifer Randall wrote on the open forum. “There are alternative containers and products to use instead of something that is clearly a polluting substance and not recyclable in this area!

“I would gladly pay 10 cents more for a sustainable container, something recyclable when one is needed,” Randall added. “Just like bags.”

The proposed ordinance contains exemptions for businesses where an alternative to expanded polystyrene is unavailable or is unaffordable.

A business owner would have to provide documentation to the city showing that an alternative to an expanded polystyrene product costs at least 15 percent more than their current product, Hermann said.

“The idea is that it creates an undue hardship,” he said.

There are also exemptions for food packaged outside the city, as well as meat and fish trays, construction materials, reused packing materials and items related to health and safety.

Some local businesses have already stopped using expanded polystyrene, including Splash Café’s two San Luis Obispo locations, which have for some time offered their clam chowder and other items in compostable containers.

Owner Joanne Currie said the initial jump to other products can give a business owner sticker shock. A standard three-compartment takeout container costs $0.13 for Styrofoam and $0.23 for biodegradable, while a biodegradable plate costs 3 cents more than its polystyrene counterpart, she said.

“I was ready to make that change,” Currie said. “I kind of saw this coming, and in San Luis Obispo specifically, I felt it was what most of my customers wanted.”

But, she added, “Downtown, there’s a lot of competition, and raising prices could seem really frightening, and absorbing it could be really challenging.”

The San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors voted in April to support the proposed ordinance as long as exemptions for businesses were included.

The ordinance aligns with the chamber’s economic vision to preserve natural resources, reduce impacts on the environment and support green business practices, said Charlene Rosales, director of governmental affairs.

“It’s a preservation of the quality of life here,” Rosales said.

The San Luis Obispo Downtown Association board has not taken a position, Executive Director Dominic Tartaglia said.

But several years ago, the association started encouraging vendors at the weekly Thursday night Farmers Market to stop using expanded polystyrene products.

Now, Tartaglia said, about 99 percent of vendors don’t use any expanded polystyrene.

“A lot of them just did it on their own,” he said. “There was no implementation or regulation, but we’re just trying to get people to think about the environment.”

The City Council started the process to draft an ordinance last year following a request from SLO Foam Free, a coalition of groups and individuals in the city seeking to eliminate the sale and commercial use of expanded polystyrene from restaurants and grocery stores.

No one spoke against the idea in September during a council discussion about a possible ordinance.

Enforcement would be complaint based. A warning would be issued for an initial violation; a second violation would draw a fine of not more than $100. A receipt for the purchase of acceptable products could be used in lieu of paying a fine.

This story was originally published May 26, 2015 at 6:56 PM with the headline "Proposed ban on Styrofoam containers to go before SLO City Council."