An ordinance prohibiting the use of polystyrene food and beverage containers by vendors in unincorporated Contra Costa County will go into effect May 1, 2020, following a unanimous vote of the Board of Supervisors Tuesday morning.
County officials hope to discourage environmental damage caused by the presence of polystyrene chunks and particles in the watershed by pushing restaurants, food trucks and other vendors to use alternative materials.
Exemptions are in place, however, for polystyrene trays used to package raw meat in grocery stores, as well as reusable foam coolers and ice chests. Businesses that might face financial hardship as a result of the new
policy could also apply for a temporary exemption from the director of public works.
The board may also revise the ordinance to encourage the use of compostable materials in the future, although staff recommended against doing so for the time being because compostable food waste collection services
aren’t uniformly available throughout the county, and compostables that end up in landfill will generate greenhouse gases as they decompose.
El Cerrito resident Howdy Goudey argued that improving accessibility to those services should be a priority. He called the ordinance “not forward looking enough,” in light of a statewide need to divert organic
materials from the waste stream.
“This action is not being reflective of things that are coming down immediately, that need to be dealt with,” Goudey said.
“I think the direction is going towards compostables,” he added.
Supervisor Candace Andersen made a motion to vote on the ordinance as currently written, however, saying it can be updated in the future as needed. Supervisor Karen Mitchoff seconded the motion, and the supervisors
passed it unanimously, asking staff to plan on preparing an update on the legislation’s implementation at the end of 2020.
In other developments, the board also voted to support a half-cent sales tax increase proposed by the Contra Costa Transit Authority to support about $3.5 billion in transit projects. The matter is not solely up to the board, however, and voters will get the final say when they go to the polls in March 2020.
9 comments
No more taxes
work with what you got or leave
Or better yet take a pay cut
Look around disparity and you cram down another tax and attack another inanimate object
I would prefer
as you do work for the people or rather citizens
That you focus on helping those citizens
Instead of using them as fodder and a head count
Get them off the street
You can throw millions around for groups and panels and committees and unions
Yet the citizens are left to squalor
Have been for years now
And all you do is give yourself raises
Raise taxes
And ban rediculous things
Yet legalize theft
I can GUARANTEE that, given the attention span of the voters, the half-cent sales tax increase will pass.
The voters of Contra Costa County elected these “supervisors”….. so you have NOTHING to complain about when they raise taxes. They will “promise” you the moon about what it’ll be used for – and the work will NEVER be completed…. and they’ll be back begging for another increase.
Only take away from this story is NO MORE TAXES!!!
Good – that stuff should have been banned long ago.
There are plenty of ways to make containers that are truly biodegradable.
And which will save taxpayers money on the cleanup to water sources, etc…
Ugh, I thought the gas tax was raised for transit projects.We’re getting hit again. Geez, when does it end… I know never, bad management always need more money.
If the direction is to go towards compostables, residents and businesses need a place to dispose of these compostables. Right now the green bin won’t accept compostable packaging.
Get compostable services working. Good lord we can’t even get normal recycling to work. I was working in two locations last spring (concord, sf) Different rules in both and the rules seemed to change on whim. Now I throw nothing in blue bin since likely the whole load on the truck will be considered contaminated and sent to the dump anyway.
You know the tax increase will pass. The creative writers will make it sound like the salvation of our transit woes and the sheep will believe it
There continues to be a giant push toward electric cars yet nobody has addressed the environmental effects of large scale battery disposal. No let’s focus on styrafoam cups and plastic straws. Unbelievable.
Like many of the laws being passed these days, it’s all about what looks good or feels good. There are very few laws being passed that are not some sort of BS pandering to the low information voters.
The politicians are afraid of taking real steps and doing their homework.
PS – I’ve got some straws if you’re interested, my friend….and they’re the bendy ones. I’ll make you a deal.
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