City Council votes to ban single-use plastics for food

Restriction to apply to new contracts only after a year.

The Atlanta City Council voted unanimously Monday in favor of a ban on noncompostable single-use plastic bags, straws and Styrofoam used to serve food at city buildings and at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

But the plastics ban would allow for a year to pass before it takes effect. And it will apply only to businesses on new city contracts struck after the effective date and to city purchases.

City Council member Amir Farokhi, who proposed the legislation, said at a committee meeting last week that the city is “kind of catching up where a lot of consumer demand is.”

If approved by the mayor, the ban will take effect on or before Dec. 31, 2020, and would apply to cityrun Hartsfield-Jackson, the world’s busiest airport.

However, the Atlanta airport already has some requirements for airport restaurants to use compostable materials.

The city also plans to rebid a number of airport restaurant contracts. Concessions contracts struck before the effective date would not fall under the ban, and some contracts are up to 10 years long — meaning a city ban might not be fully enforced at the airport for years.

The legislation n also wouldn’t apply to airlines’ in-flight service nor to Delta Air Lines facilities at the airport. Atlanta-based Delta has been pursuing its own efforts to reduce its use of plastics.

Regarding what plastic items are prohibited, the proposed city ordinance would leave the specifics to the city’s chief resilience officer, who would write the actual regulations and define the “noncompostable single-use serviceware” to be banned.

An earlier version of the legislation was introduced in August, but was put on hold for months as officials worked through complications of the ban and its ramifications.

The Georgia Chemistry Council opposed the plastics ban the City Council has approved, saying alternatives to plastic create other problems.

That’s partly because there is no composting facility in the city of Atlanta to accept compostable materials. The Atlanta airport has been working on a project to build a composting and recycling facility, but it has been delayed for years.

The legislation includes a carve-out for disposable flexible plastic drinking straws to make them available upon request in addition to compostable straws, according to Farokhi — including for people who need flexible straws because of a medical or physical condition.

The plastics ban would not apply to business owners with city permits and licenses, including vendors at festivals and City Hall events.

The City Council also approved a resolution asking the city’s resilience office to pursue partnerships with companies to encourage them to phase out noncompostable single-use serviceware.