County supervisors, water district move forward with polystyrene ban
Angela Ruggiero
Gilroy Dispatch
10/26/2011
Tuesday morning the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted for a request for more information on a potential policy ban of polystyrene, and the same day the Santa Clara Valley Water District board of directors followed suit in a unanimous vote to adopt a resolution to ban the use of district funds to purchase polystyrene products.
The county board of supervisors staff will report back to the board for potential recommendations relating to the appropriate disposal of the product in county facilities and all food vendors within the unincorporated county. The ban from the water district includes contractors and vendors that provide food services to district facilities and events.
This comes after the June 27 vote by the county's Recycling and Waste Reduction Commission request that the board of supervisors and water district directors take action to prohibit expanded polystyrene food containers.
The timeline outlined in the board of supervisors agenda item recommends the county adopt a policy ban in those utilizing county or city facilities and parks by Jan. 1, 2012. A recommendation of an ordinance banning the containers in the county and unincorporated areas is suggested for July 1, 2012.
Expanded polystyrene, which includes the name-brand Styrofoam, are the food and beverage containers that could be a problematic pollutant in creeks and waterways that flow into the Bay and beyond, according to the board agenda item. It is non-biodegradable and non-compostable yet breaks down into smaller pieces that could be ingested by aquatic wildlife.
