Highland Park Looks to Ban Styrofoam

By Soyoung Kwak in News on Dec 4, 2010 5:00PM

Vessels made from polystyrene have been keeping coffee and other foods toasty warm for decades, but due to deep environmental concerns Highland Park is considering banning use of polystyrene cups, bowls, and plates in restaurants and in businesses. However, some question whether banning the versatile and cheap material is the right answer to the region's landfill problems. Some have suggested streamlining or producing more viable, technologically advanced methods of recycling and reusing polystyrene materials:

Tanya Triche, senior counsel for the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, has followed the debate in Chicago and Highland Park and questions whether alternative products will solve the problem. "If the goal is to get PSF (polystyrene foam) out of landfills, all you are really doing is replacing it with something else that is going into the landfill," said Triche, who suggested that communities build recycling facilities. "Banning something, we really don't feel is the best way to tackle the issue," she said.

Additionally, restaurant owners would also have to deal with any extra costs that may come with implementing more environmentally-conscious products into their daily operations. If Styrofoam usage is banned, replacing Styrofoam and using a more biodegradable product would make it even harder on restaurants financially, which could add pressure in an already hard-pressed economy. Take for example Bluegrass restaurant, owned by Jim Lederer, who is also the chairman of the Highland Park Restaurant Association:

Bluegrass uses polystyrene foam clamshells as well as cups for sauces for carry-out, which makes up about 10 percent of its business. If the city bans the foam, it would cost his restaurant between $50 and $100 a week to replace the cups with more expensive alternatives and an additional $20 to $25 per week to replace the clamshell containers, he said.

The discussion to ban or not to ban Styrofoam will commence on Wednesday of this upcoming week, but if a proposal passes, Highland Park will be the first and only town in the Midwest that would have a Styrofoam ban in action. And if we remember correctly, Alderman Ed Burke proposed a similar ban in Chicago earlier this year with no real success (yet?).