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Ban: After plastic bags, comes styrofoam!
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Styrofoam food ware
After the City of San Jose has banned the use of plastic bags by grocery stores, the Council is now trying to ban the use of styrofoam by food vendors.
The City Council started their deliberations during the October 20, 2009 session and hopes to come up with a decision soon.
The Transporation and Environment Committee, in their report to Mayor Chuck Reed, recommended to ban sytrofoam use by food vendors, among others. If approved, their recommendation will allow San Jose to be a public model for best recycling practices and improve waste reduction at City events and venues.
The committee was tasked to pilot-test the zero waste program in 2008 and 2009 at five largest special events for two years. The events included Cinco de Mayo, American Independence Day, San Jose Jazz Festival, Tapestry Arts Festival, and Italian Family Fiesta.
Based on these two-year zero waste pilot on five events, the committee recommended the ban for the use of styrofoam food service ware at San Jose events in 2010.
The report pointed out that styrofoam can't be recycled or composted. So, banning should significantly reduce non-recyclable waste generated by events and supports the policy objective of the City's Keep it Cool! Partnership approved by the City Council in October 2008. The partnership requires the city to develop a strategy for a local food establishment to dramatically reduce the use of non-biodegradable/non-compostable take out food containers through ban or fee programs.
The pilot project earned the 2009 California Governor's Environmental And Economic Leadership Award for Waste Reduction and the 2009 "Striving towards Zero Waste" Award by the California Resource Recovery Association.
Currently, San Francisco and Berkeley have banned the use of styrofoam and Palo Alto is in the process of banning it.
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