City moves toward substantial ban of plastic foam
STAMFORD — First there was the bag ban, then the straw law.
Provided there are no significant objections at
Tuesday night’s public hearing, a plastic foam stoppage may soon be on the books.
City lawmakers have proposed an ordinance that
would prohibit restaurants from selling food or beverages in plastic foam containers, and retailers from using trays, cartons or packing “peanuts” made of the material. Municipal agencies, including schools, would have to stop using it, too.
Plastic foam is made of polystyrene, a petroleum product that is not biodegradable or reusable, and breaks into fragments that pollute the earth and oceans, injure wildlife and accumulate in the human body to create harmful effects, according to the proposed legislation.
The proposed ordinance is the latest effort by the Board of Representatives to protect the city’s ecology and citizens’ health. Representatives outlawed disposable plastic bags last year and did the same earlier this year with plastic straws and stirrers.
The proposed ordinance would apply to just about every retail establishment in the city, including grocery stores, grocery delivery services, department and hardware stores, hospitals, pharmacies, liquor stores, restaurants, delicatessens, convenience stores, caterers, food trucks and farmers’ markets.
It would not apply to the sale of goods at yard and tag sales.
Other exemptions would include prepackaged food and goods sold at a retail establishment, trays used to contain raw meat or seafood sold from a butcher case, and plastic foam coolers.
“In a perfect world, we want to not use this stuff, but maybe that road doesn’t begin right away,” Rep. Jonathan Jacobson, D-12, said during a meeting of the board’s Legislative & Rules Committee, which crafted the legislation. “Let’s do it one step at a time.”
The committee chairman, Rep. Benjamin Lee, D-15, said the focus of the plastic foam ordinance is on the largest distributors, as was the case with the bag ban and straw law. Individuals, for example, would still be able to purchase packages of plastic foam cups or plates for home use.
“Our goal is not to stop people from ordering cups on Amazon. We haven’t gone for outright bans,” Lee said. “For now, we’re trying to cut down on the largest sources. We’ve gone for the good, not the perfect.”
The Legislative & Rules Committee at its last meeting sought information about the school district, a heavy user of food containers, inviting Associate Superintendent Olympia Della Flora and Dawn McGinn of Chartwells, the Board of Education’s food service contractor.
McGinn said that, before the coronavirus pandemic shut schools in March, the district was using 1 million food trays a year.
Switching from plastic foam to paper-fiber trays would cost the school district about $60,000 more each year, McGinn told the committee.
“They cost about 6 cents apiece more than Styrofoam trays,” she said.
Since the pandemic, the district has been providing grab-and-go lunches that do not require use of plastic foam, McGinn said. Because of safety measures being used to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in schools, Chartwells does not anticipate using trays again until January, she said.
The district has about 36,000 plastic foam trays on hand, which would last nine or 10 days once school cafeterias resume usual operations, she said.
It would not be difficult to obtain alternatives, McGinn said.
“Paper is readily available,” she told the committee.
Della Flora said there is a good deal of support from students and staff to eliminate products that harm the environment.
“We are always looking
for ways to not only educate students in academics but also in life, and this can be an educational piece to help students understand the importance” of protecting the environment, Della Flora said. “We’re already moving in that direction.”
If the Board of Representatives passes the ordinance, it will be enforced by a civil citation officer who would give written notice on discovering an initial violation, issue a $150 fine for a second violation and a $250 penalty for each subsequent violation.
The board’s Legislative & Rules Committee Tuesday will hold a virtual public hearing that begins at 7 p.m. Citizens may take part by clicking on the link on the board’s website.
The full board is set to take up the proposed ordinance at its Oct. 5 meeting, also virtual.
The committee voted to enact the plastic foam ban, except for use in schools, six months after it passes, which so far would mean sometime in April.
Committee members gave the school district until Jan. 1, 2023. The full board could vote to change the enactment dates and other aspects of the ban.