HILO — On Tuesday, Kohala Councilwoman Margaret Wille held up a piece of polystyrene foam to make a point.
HILO — On Tuesday, Kohala Councilwoman Margaret Wille held up a piece of polystyrene foam to make a point.
“This Styrofoam will be here 500 years from now; 1,000 years,” she said during a meeting that took up her proposal to curtail such material.
But the ubiquitous plate lunch container standby is likely to be around a little longer than Wille would like, judging from a County Council committee’s initial response to her Bill 140 that would ban the food service products in stores and food outlets starting in 2018.
After a discussion that forecast a 4-4 deadlock in the County Council Environmental Management Committee, the panel agreed 6-1 to send the measure to the county’s Environmental Management Commission for its review and comments before taking it up again.
“We just need to exert a little leadership here,” Wille said, pushing for council approval.
Hamakua Councilwoman Valerie Poindexter and three West Hawaii councilwomen favored the ban; four East Hawaii councilmen were headed toward opposing it. Council Chairman Dru Kanuha, who could break a tie, was absent. Puna Councilman Greggor Ilagan, who was leaning in opposition, left the meeting before the final vote.
The bill will need at least five votes in favor during two readings in the council before going to the mayor for signature or veto.
“I think Hawaii and Hawaii Island have been on the cutting edge. We’re shifting our thinking,” said North Kona Councilwoman Karen Eoff. “This is one thing we can do. This is one way we can make a difference.”
“We have idealism, we have practicalities. Somewhere along the line we need to balance these,” said Hilo Councilman Aaron Chung, saying the council should work with businesses rather than ban the containers outright.
Dozens of testifiers from schoolchildren to scientists urged the council to ban the containers that they say break down into small pieces that become a false food source for fish and seabirds. Marine animals can literally starve to death with a full stomach of plastics, not even knowing they’re hungry, they said.
“Plastic pollution and marine debris are a very serious and global problem. But they are people problems and can be resolved by the steadfast commitment of people,” said Megan Lamson, Hawaii Island program director for the Hawaii Wildlife Fund.
About 50 other supporters submitted written testimony. Many likened the move to ban foam food containers to the county’s ban on plastic bags several years ago. There was some push-back at first, but people quickly adjusted to the change, they said.
On the other side were a handful of testifiers from businesses and business groups saying there are few, if any alternatives. Polystyrene is manufactured in the state, putting people to work and avoiding the cost of shipping products to the islands, said Dexter Yamada, whose food container manufacturing and distribution company employs about 100 people.
“This is a litter management problem that must be addressed,” Yamada said. “This bill will only change the type of litter.”
Sarah K. Rafferty, of Kailua-Kona, said she’s gathered 4,000 signatures on a petition urging a countywide ban on single-use expanded polystyrene containers.
“We cannot effectively say that we are making responsible decisions for a better tomorrow while simultaneously piling non-composting polystyrene containers into our landfills,” Rafferty said. “We cannot honestly claim to be on the path to zero waste without utilizing eco-friendly alternatives in the market.”
Restaurateurs and food retailers stand by their use of polystyrene. It’s not just the cost, they say; it’s also the availability of suitable alternatives that keep food hot and don’t collapse under heat and moisture.
“Supermarkets and take-out restaurants are dependent on polystyrene for plate lunches and polystyrene meat trays,” said Derek Kurisu, executive vice president of KTA Super Stores and chairman of the statewide industry group Hawaii Food Industry. “We tried paper or recyclable trays in our deli but it doesn’t work like polystyrene.”
“Recently, we at KTA changed our coffee cups to paper from polystyrene because we found a paper insulated sleeve to keep our hands from burning,” Kurisu added in written testimony to the council. “We cannot find any suitable replacement for polystyrene trays for our meats and take-out meals.”
It’s not known how the administration views the bill. Puna Councilman Dan Paleka asked that someone from the administration come to the meeting when it’s next taken up. West Hawaii Today’s calls to Environmental Management Director Bobby Jean Leithead Todd were not returned by press time Tuesday.