First District Councilmember Lena Gonzalez requested that her fellow councilmembers approve her motion to request the city attorney to begin drafting an ordinance that would effectively ban the distribution of expanded polystyrene and other polystyrene disposable food-service containers in Long Beach.
Polystyrene is a plastic, and many of the restaurant containers are often made from it, including the trademarked product Styrofoam.
In a presentation, Gonzalez argued that city staff began studying the concerns over polystyrene in food-service containers about 11 years ago and that a new ordinance that would ban the plastic has already considered the work that had already been done.
“It respects not only the work of our city staff,” Gonzalez said Tuesday, “it respects the impact to local businesses and, most importantly, respects our constituents and their yearn for a better environment.”
Gonzalez noted that the policy would even offer a hardship waiver to those businesses that claimed a financial difficulty in complying with the ban.
The 1st-district councilmember’s motion was cheered on by environmental advocates like Gabrielle Weeks, who spoke during the public-comment period that night. Weeks represents the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter, a major environmental-advocacy group that serves both LA and Orange counties.
Citing studies by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Weeks said that numerous carcinogens, including formaldehyde and benzene, have been found in expanded polystyrene. She also argued that the taste of the food is changed when people consume food from take-out containers that contain the plastic.
“But if we ban it citywide,” Weeks said, “we’re going to have all the restaurants opened to all the people who want to be able to taste the food and the flavor, not the weird chemicals.”
Gonzalez’s motion was not an easy one to pass, however. Fifth District Councilmember Stacy Mungo criticized the flaws in the efforts to recycle supposedly environmentally friendlier containers, noting that one business that uses a cup produced and recycled in LA County has to pay for those costs up front. She cited another example of cups made from corn that are meant to be compostable, however, there is no long-term composting program for corn cups.
Mungo said that in Long Beach, those cups are being burned.
“And so, I’m concerned that we’re not really addressing the system as a whole,” Mungo concluded.
Fourth District Councilmember Daryl Supernaw noted one other problem. Supernaw formerly served on the Sustainability Commission and now heads the council’s Environmental Committee. He requested that the committee get public input with current stakeholders.
“If we do a little due diligence up front,” Supernaw said, “we can get a cleaner piece to the city attorney that might be able to be turned around quickly and more efficiently.”
Vice Mayor Rex Richardson, who represents the 9th District, offered a compromise. He had praised the work of Gonzalez, city staff and former councilmembers who had already invested years of research into the issues. Richardson requested that the item be referred to the Environmental Committee to take the lead in doing more public outreach to the current stakeholders for the input on crafting the ordinance.
“Because I understand when folks ask about including stakeholders,” Richardson concluded, “but I also understand when that’s a tactic to delay just when there’s no intent to actually bring anything back. So, I think there might be a way to sincerely move forward [and] make sure those things are included.”
The council unanimously approved Richardson’s recommendation that the item return to the council in 180 days, after public input has been gathered.
The city attorney will be expected to draft the ordinance and present it to the council within that six-month time frame, only after stakeholders, including those from the business community, have provided input.
