Committee Chairs Halt Bills To Ban Foam Food Containers
The prohibition聽continues to gain support from Hawaii environmentalists, but is effectively dead this session.
鈥淟ooks like it鈥檚 dead,鈥 Sen. Will Espero said Thursday of 聽to prohibit food vendors from using Styrofoam and other polystyrene containers.
Environmentalists argue that the lightweight, single-use containers end up littering beaches and parks, eventually harming wildlife.
It was up to , chair of the Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee, to schedule a joint committee hearing for the bill,聽, before Friday鈥檚 deadline.
Baker did not respond to requests for comments Thursday about why she failed to do so.
Almost 100 people testified before a joint committee hearing for the bill in early February. Most supported the bill.
A week later, members of local environmental organizations held a “Trashion show”聽to call on the state to support the plastic foam container ban and a bill before the Honolulu City Council to close 补听濒辞辞辫丑辞濒别 in the current plastic bag ban.聽The demonstrators聽wore聽outfits made of Styrofoam containers and plastic聽bags.
Since 2009, six similar bills have been introduced in legislative sessions in Hawaii. Most never made it to a committee hearing.
In his three years working with the聽, Rafael Bergstrom has watched similar bills die despite growing support for the ban. He聽said when committee chairs don鈥檛 schedule hearings for popular bills, they are limiting public engagement in the legislative process.
鈥淏ills are being decided behind closed doors without the opportunity for public discourse,鈥 Bergstrom said.
Environmental groups and a slew of individuals also online in support of the bill. Most cited concerns about environmental damage.
鈥淒uring albatross season, the (Northwestern Hawaiian) islands are covered in the carcasses of dead albatross. Their rotting bodies reveal stomachs filled with plastic, including pieces of foam,鈥 Megan Onuma wrote in testimony. Onuma is a graduate student in Marine Biology at the University of Hawaii.
罢丑别听聽and the 聽were among those who opposed the bill. The industry representatives cited faults in biodegradable alternatives to plastic foam containers.
It鈥檚 important to keep the聽products on the market because food vendors haven鈥檛 found an alternative for serving extremely hot items in, said聽Lauren Zirbel of the food industry association.
Opponents聽also expressed concerns that the added cost of alternatives to plastic foam containers would burden small restaurants.
鈥淵our plate lunch is going to go way up in cost,鈥 said Tina Yamaki of the Retail Merchants of Hawaii.
She added that the merchants group聽wasn鈥檛 entirely against the ban, but wanted to find a more feasible solution that was good for the environment and business.
,聽banning the use of plastic foam containers in state facilities, including public schools, met a similar fate in the House. The Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection passed the bill, but it didn’t receive a hearing in the House Consumer Protection and Commerce Committee chaired by Rep. Angus McKelvey.
Rep. Chris Lee, chair of the Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection, said that public support for a ban is聽growing.
鈥淔or the first time we’re starting to get a feel of how much tax payers dollars are being spent cleaning up,鈥 said Lee.
Countywide bans have come under consideration on Kauai, Hawaii Island and Oahu, but none has passed. The fate of a statewide ban still depends on a handful of committee chairs.
鈥淲e give the chairs a lot of leeway,鈥 Espero said.
