(b) No retail vendor in the City of Portland who sells tangible personal property at retail shall sell polystyrene foam food or beverage containers.

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1 City Council Workshop Agenda Item #2 August 10, 2015 Ban on Polystyrene Polystyrene, or as it is commonly referred to as styrofoam, is a petroleum-based plastic made from the styrene monomer. A light weight, good insulator, polystyrene is largely air. Many products use polystyrene to either keep items warm or cold, or use the product to pack and ship items safely. Polystyrene is not easily recycled and when littered or discarded, creates undesirable impacts on water quality, stormwater, and wildlife. There are alternatives that are reusable, recyclable or compostable, which are already on the market and readily available. Earlier this year the City Council placed the topic of a ban on polystyrene on the workshop tentative agenda. The item was not immediately acted on based on the belief that other communities in the Greater Portland area were interested in the same type of ordinance (along with single use bags). Freeport was the first community in the region to ban polystyrene, which dates back to the early 1990s. As we know, the City of Portland in April implemented its ban on polystyrene throughout its community. For consistency sake, staff thought that if there were enough communities interested in such an ordinance, maybe the communities could develop a model ordinance, creating consistency from one community to another. Staff participated in a meeting in late June at the Greater Portland Council of Governments, in which the topic of the meeting was to discuss single use bags and polystyrene. Two things became very evident early in the meeting 1) not a lot of communities are pursuing the ban on polystyrene; and 2) all communities at the meeting were at a different place when it came to single use bags (plastic bags). The communities ranged from York to Topsham, with very little representation from Greater Portland. A positive, of the meeting, was having the opportunity to hear from the Portland representatives who gave a thorough background of their ordinance development process. Being the most recent community in the region to pursue such an ordinance, Portland officials shared the positives and negatives of their process and how they arrived with the finished project. It was very informative and led staff to question our process. Portland s Prohibition Language: (a) No retail vendor in the City of Portland shall serve or sell prepared food and no food packager shall package meat, eggs, bakery products or other food in polystyrene foam containers. (b) No retail vendor in the City of Portland who sells tangible personal property at retail shall sell polystyrene foam food or beverage containers. (c) The City shall not use polystyrene foam food or beverage containers at any City facility or City-sponsored event.

2 (d) No City department or facility shall purchase or acquire polystyrene foam food or beverage containers. (e) All parties who contract with the City shall be prohibited from using polystyrene foam food and beverage containers in City facilities or on City-funded projects within the City. Exemptions in the Portland Ordinance include: (a) The sale and packaging of raw seafood is exempt from the provisions of this Article. (b) Retail vendors and food packagers that are currently existing or are established in the city by the effective date of the ordinance will be exempted from the provision of this Article prohibiting the use of polystyrene foam for a period of time to be determined by the City Manager or his/her designee in writing on a case-by-case basis for undue hardship. Undue hardship includes, but is not limited to, situations unique to the food vendor not generally applicable to other persons in similar circumstances. The enforcement powers are held by the City Manager or his/her designee and a stepped process of warnings and fines are included in the oversight of the ordinance. Similar to the single-use bag ordinance, staff believes consistency is very important when developing and interpreting ordinance language. Knowing the process Portland went through; it seems to make sense that we follow its lead. Adopting an ordinance similar to Portland will provide consistency from one community to the next and have the same rules between the two neighboring communities. I have talked with Portland officials and they are supportive of South Portland basing our ordinance language off from Portland s. Education and communication are very important through the implementation of such an ordinance. Though the City Council may act on ordinance language in the coming months, staff recommends that the effective date is at minimum six months away if not longer. Portland adopted its Ordinance in June of 2014 and the polystyrene ban became effective in April This time period allowed for merchants to find alternative products and for the City to educate the public and merchants of the provisions of the ordinance. It is worth noting that the State of Maine has banned the service of food and beverages in polystyrene foam containers at facilities or functions of the State since Over 95 cities across the United States have in one form or another banned the use or sale of polystyrene. For discussion, I have included Portland s and Freeport s ordinance. Staff will be looking for Council s guidance on direction. City staff has notified businesses that could be potentially impacted by such ordinance. A letter sent out to them outlining the City s intentions and invited them to Monday s meeting. City Manager

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4 Order /14 Passage as Amended: 6-3 (Mavodones, Coyne, Leeman) on 6/16/2014 Effective 4/15/2015 MICHAEL F. BRENNAN. (MAYOR) KEVIN J. DONOGHUE (1) DAVID A. MARSHALL (2) EDWARD J. SUSLOVIC (3) CHERYL A. LEEMAN (4) AMENDMENT TO PORTLAND CITY CODE CHAPTER 12 GARBAGE, WASTES AND JUNK ARTICLE VII and ARTICLE VIII. POLYSTYRENE RE: POLYSTYRENE FOAM BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PORTLAND, MAINE IN CITY COUNCIL ASSEMBLED AS FOLLOWS: 1. That Article VII, Rendering Wastes, of the Portland City Code is hereby amended and a new Article VIII is hereby enacted to read as follows: Sec Reserved. Sec Reserved. Sec Reserved. Sec Reserved. Sec Reserved. Sec Findings; purposes. CITY OF PORTLAND IN THE CITY COUNCIL ARTICLE VIII. POLYSTYRENE The city council hereby finds as follows: JOHN R. COYNE (5) JILL C. DUSON (A/L) JON HINCK (A/L) NICHOLAS M. MAVODONES, JR (A/L). (1) Polystyrene foam is a petroleum-based, lightweight plastic material sometimes used as food service ware by retail food vendors operating in the City of Portland. (2) The City of Portland desires to protect the natural environment. (3) There is no economically feasible means of recycling polystyrene foam locally. (4) Disposable food containers made from polystyrene foam constitute a portion of the litter in Portland s streets, parks and public places that increases city maintenance costs. 1

5 (5) Polystyrene foam is a common pollutant that fragments into smaller, non-biodegradable pieces that are ingested by marine life and other wildlife thus harming or killing them. (6) The State of Maine has banned the service of food and beverages in polystyrene foam containers at facilities or functions of the State or its political subdivisions (38 M.R.S ). (7) The City s goal is to replace polystyrene foam food containers with reusable, recyclable or compostable alternatives. (8) Such alternatives are readily available. Sec Definitions. As used in this Article the following terms have the following meanings: Food Packager means any person located within the City of Portland who places meat, eggs, bakery products, or other food in packaging materials for the purpose of retail sale of those products; Prepared food means food or beverages which are served at the food vendor s location having been previously prepared elsewhere or are prepared at the vendor s location by cooking, chopping, slicing, mixing, brewing, freezing or squeezing. Prepared food does not mean raw uncooked meat or eggs. Prepared food may be eaten either on or off premises. Polystyrene foam means and includes blown polystyrene and expanded and extruded foams (sometimes incorrectly called Styrofoam, a Dow Chemical Company trademarked form of polystyrene foam insulation) which are thermoplastic petrochemical materials utilizing a styrene monomer and processed by any number of techniques including, but not limited to, fusion of polymer spheres (expandable bead polystyrene), injection molding, foam molding, and extrusion-blow molding (extruded foam polystyrene). Polystyrene foam is generally used to make cups, bowls, plates, trays, clamshell containers, meat trays and egg cartons. For the purposes of this chapter, the 2

6 term polystyrene shall not include clear polystyrene known as oriented polystyrene. Retail Vendor means any person, restaurant, store, shop, sales outlet or other establishment, including without limitation, a grocery store, convenience store or a delicatessen located within the City of Portland which offers prepared food for retail sale. Sec Prohibitions. (a) No retail vendor in the City of Portland shall serve or sell prepared food and no food packager shall package meat, eggs, bakery products or other food in polystyrene foam containers. (b) No retail vendor in the City of Portland who sells tangible personal property at retail shall sell polystyrene foam food or beverage containers. (c) The City shall not use polystyrene foam food or beverage containers at any City facility or City-sponsored event. (d) No City department or facility shall purchase or acquire polystyrene foam food or beverage containers. (e) All parties who contract with the City shall be prohibited from using polystyrene foam food and beverage containers in City facilities or on City-funded projects within the City. Sec Exemptions. (a) The sale and packaging of raw seafood is exempt from the provisions of this Article. (b) Retail vendors and food packagers that are currently existing or are established in the city by the effective date of the ordinance will be exempted from the provision of this Article prohibiting the use of polystyrene foam for a period of time to be determined by the City Manager or his/her designee in writing on a case-by-case basis for undue hardship. Undue hardship includes, but is not limited to, situations unique to the food vendor not generally applicable to other persons in similar circumstances. 3

7 (c) Retail vendors, food packagers, city departments, city facilities and contractors shall be exempt from the provisions of this Article, in a situation deemed by the City Manager to be an emergency for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety. Sec Violations and enforcement. The City Manager or his/her designee(s) shall have the primary responsibility for enforcement of this Article. If the City Manager or his/her designee(s) determine(s) that a violation of this Article has occurred, he/she shall issue a written warning notice to the food vendor that a violation has occurred. Subsequent violations of the Article shall be subject to the penalties set forth below. Violations of this Article shall be punishable by fines as follows: (a) A fine not exceeding $250 for the first violation in a one-year period; (b) A fine not exceeding $500 for the second and each subsequent violation in a one-year period. Sec Effective Date (a) This Article shall become effective on April 15, (b) This Article shall be null and void if and as long as there is developed and maintained an effective city-wide recycling program approved by the City s Director of Public Services for polystyrene foam food and beverage containers. (c) The provisions of this Article shall be null and void on the day that statewide legislation or federal legislation goes into effect, incorporating either the same or substantially similar provisions as are contained in this chapter, or in the event that a pertinent Maine or federal administrative agency issues and promulgates regulations, preempting such action. Sec Severability. If any part or provision of this Article or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of the Article, including the application of such part or provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be 4

8 affected thereby and shall continue in full force and effect. To this end, provisions of this Article are severable. 5

9 Foam Containers Prohibited City of Portland Foam Ban Effec ve April 15, 2015 Beginning this date, the use of polystyrene foam packaging is prohibited in the City of Portland. This includes food service materials such as cups, plates, bowls, clamshell take out boxes and other items used to contain prepared food. This ordinance covers establishments including restaurants, convenience stores, food trucks, cafeterias, pubs, caterers, coffee shops, grocery stores and other businesses preparing or packaging food for retail sale. For more informa on, please visit h p://portlandmaine.gov/1451/green packaging

10 CHAPTER 33 STYROFOAM ORDINANCE Whereas, the Council finds that: 1. Located in Maine on the shore of the North Atlantic Ocean, an area known world-wide for its natural beauty, fish and other wildlife, the Town of Freeport believes that it has an obligation to maintain and preserve its special natural environment; 2. Maintenance of Freeport as litter-free as possible is important to protect and preserve its natural environment and enhance its quality of life for residents and visitors; 3. The United Nations Environmental Programme Diplomatic Conference in Montreal (Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer) acknowledged the threat of chlorofluorocarbons to the earth's atmosphere and established international goals for the phased reduction of the manufacture and use of specific chlorofluorocarbon compounds ("CFC's"). The Town of Freeport supports international and federal efforts to reduce the non-essential use of chlorofluorocarbons.; 4. The Federal Environmental Protection Agency reports that foam products account for 28% of ozone-depleting potential of CFC's. Blowing agents used in the production of non-cfc PSF's create hazardous earth-level smog; 5. The Federal Environmental Protection Agency has issued a national municipal waste strategy calling for a 25 percent reduction in solid waste by The strategy, titled "The Solid Waste Dilemma: An Agenda for Action", includes the promotion of recycling. The State of Maine is considering how to implement this strategy; 6. The State of Maine has banned the service of food and beverages in polystyrene foam containers at facilities or functions of the State or its political subdivisions effective January 1, 1990 (38 MRSA Section 1651 et seq.); 7. Readily disposable consumer plastic containers and wrappers (including those made from polystyrene foam) are essentially not biodegradable and as litter do not decompose over time into the natural environment; 8. The use of readily disposable consumer plastic containers and wrappers has increased annually and projections indicate a significant growth in their use; 9. Plastic litter, particularly polystyrene foam, poses a threat to the natural environment, including fish and other wildlife; -1-

11 10. This Ordinance will serve the public interest by reducing the amount of non-biodegradable waste littering Freeport as a portion of any substitute packaging is expected to be composed of biodegradable material in whole or in part. Polystyrene foam litter is highly durable, buoyant, and non-biodegradable and, therefore, persists and detracts from the appearance of the area longer than many other types of litter; 11. At the present time there is no Recycling Program in Freeport for polystyrene foam food or beverage containers; 12. Some other commonly used food packaging materials are also non-biodegradable and contribute to litter problems; nevertheless, the Council finds that it is appropriate to regulate polystyrene foam food packaging while not regulating other types of food packaging at this time for the following reasons: A. To minimize disruption in the food services and sales industry, the Council should avoid banning a wide range of packaging materials at one time. It might be appropriate to ban other packaging materials in the future, but an incremental approach to eliminating undesirable packaging materials will cause less disruption and allow the Town to handle enforcement in more manageable stages; B. Polystyrene foam is the most commonly used non-reuseable food packaging material for prepared foods in restaurants and food service establishments in Freeport and, therefore, prohibiting its use for such purpose and its sale at retail will be the most effective way of reducing non-biodegradable litter in Freeport; C. Ingestion of polystyrene foam particles has been identified as a hazard to wildlife, while this problem has not been associated with other food packaging materials. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDERED: 1. On and after January 1, 1990, no retail food vendor shall serve or sell prepared food and no food packager shall package meat, eggs, bakery products or other food in polystyrene foam (PSF) containers; 2. On and after January 1, 1990, no vendor in the Town of Freeport who sells tangible personal property at retail shall sell polystyrene foam food or beverage containers; 3. Violations of this Ordinance shall be punishable by fines as follows: A. A fine not exceeding $250 for the first violation in a one-year period; B. A fine not exceeding $500 for the second and each subsequent

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13 4. Provided nevertheless that the effective date of this Ordinance shall be postponed if and as long as there is developed and maintained an effective Town-wide Recycling Program for polystyrene foam food and beverage containers, as determined by the Town Council; 5. Definitions. As used in this Ordinance the following terms have the following meanings: A. "Biodegradable" means material capable of being broken down by micro-organisms into simple substances or basic elements; B. "Chlorofluorocarbons" are the family of substances containing carbon, fluorine and chlorine; C. "Food Packager" means any person located within the Town of Freeport who places meat, eggs, bakery products, or other food in packaging materials for the purpose of retail sale of those products; D. "Prepared food" means food or beverages which are served at the food vendor's location having been previously prepared elsewhere or are prepared at the vendor's location by cooking, chopping, slicing, mixing, brewing, freezing or squeezing. "Prepared food" does not include any raw uncooked meat or eggs. Prepared food may be eaten either on or off premises; E. "Person" means any natural person, firm, corporation, partnership, or other organization or group however organized; F. "PSF" means polystyrene foam; G. "Recycling Program" - a process whereby used materials are separated from the solid waste stream and utilized as a raw material in the manufacture of a new product or for new economic use; H. "Restaurant" means any establishment located within the Town of Freeport selling prepared food to be eaten by customers. Restaurant includes a sidewalk or other outdoor food vendor; I. "Retail Food Vendor, Vendor" means any person, restaurant, store, shop, sales outlet or other establishment, including, without limitation, a grocery store, convenience or variety store or a delicatessen located within the Town of Freeport which sells prepared food; If any part or provision of this Ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held invalid, the remainder of the Ordinance, including the application of such part or provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby and shall continue in full force and effect. To this end, provisions of this Ordinance are severable.

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