San Diego City Council voted 7-1 Nov. 15 to ban polystyrene foam food containers, utensils, coolers and toys, while granting hardship exclusions for small businesses potentially negatively impacted by the new ordinance.

District 6 Council member Chris Cate cast the lone dissenting vote. Council member Vivian Moreno of District 8 was absent.

Commonly known as styrofoam, the new prohibition on polystyrene foam product use will now take effect April 1, 2023. To assist small businesses and restaurants in making a successful transition to non-styrofoam containers and products, there will be a 12-month exemption to comply with the new ordinance for businesses with less than $500,000 in annual income.

City staff told the council polystyrene constitutes “a threat to the environment in San Diego as litter in our canyons, streets, waterways, and beaches.

Polystyrene foam blows in the wind and floats on water, where it can be ingested by birds, fish, and other organisms. The polystyrene foam that does not become litter, but is put in trash or recycling bins, then becomes a nuisance at the landfill or recycling center, as it easily breaks up, blows around, and becomes litter at and around the landfill or becomes contamination in other recycling streams.”

The council passed an ordinance banning polystyrene in 2019 to reduce the City’s plastic usage, but enforcement was quickly tied up by a lawsuit. That suit was settled with the City agreeing to prepare an environmental impact report on the effects of such a ban under the California Environmental Quality Act.

During public testimony before the council’s styrofoam-ban vote, Mitch Silverstein of Surfrider Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to environmental protection said, “We represent our ocean, our beaches, and the millions of people who love them. Surfrider strongly supports the ordinance and worked with previous council member Chris Ward in a broad coalition to get it introduced back in 2018. Sixteen years of our local beach cleanup data does not lie: foam is the second most commonly found form of pollution along San Diego’s coastline.”

Added Silverstein, “In 2019 when we (Surfrider) did over 100 local beach cleanups, foam accounted for 14.4% of the total items found. And that’s a drop in the bucket compared to the millions of pieces volunteers were unable to collect. Single-use foam breaks up instantly and is completely unmanageable as a waste product. One-hundred-twenty-nine California cities have already taken this action, including San Diego, before the plastic industry lawsuit thwarted it. For the sake of the next generation, we must source-reduce single-use plastic starting with the worst offenders. Please vote yes.”

District 1 Council member Joe LaCava, chair of the City’s Environment Committee, moved to ban polystyrene products. “San Diego is ready to say goodbye to styrofoam,” he said. “We were ready in 2018. And many businesses have already made the switch. Over 130 cities have already adopted a ban, and both the County and City of Los Angeles are on the verge. Let’s beat L.A.”

“It’s long past time we had a (styrofoam) ban,” agreed District 5 Council member Marni von Wilpert. “This is all of our future, making sure harmful plastics and other products are kept from our waste stream. This is the kind of climate action that the City should be proud of.”

Collage top image: SURFRIDER FOUNDATION/Courtesy photo

Styrofoam photos courtesy of Cathy Ives