Bellingham considers taking this environmental step two years before Washington law
Bellingham City Council members will consider a measure to ban styrofoam and other kinds of single-use plastics under a measure on the agenda this week.
Councilman Dan Hammill introduced the ordinance to reduce the amount of plastic going into the waste stream as recycling becomes more difficult.
“Styrofoam is not a product that can be recycled in any meaningful way,” Hammill told The Bellingham Herald.
Hammill’s measure requires durable plates and utensils for food eaten at a restaurant and also requires hotels and motels to use dispensers for shampoo, conditioner and liquid soap, rather than providing small, single-use containers.
“While plastic has many legitimate uses, particularly for durable products, its durability and longevity causes problems when it is used only once or a few times and then discarded. Issues include litter, environmental pollution, and threats to the health of birds and aquatic mammals,” a summary of the measure said. “Single-use plastic products also make up a large proportion of the municipal solid waste stream and many single-use products are not effectively recycled.”
Hammill’s measure goes before the council on Monday, May 10, and could be enacted after a final vote May 24 if council members approve it.
Timing is important, Hammill said, because Senate Bill 5022, which passed the Legislature and is awaiting action by the governor, sets different timelines and doesn’t include expanded polystyrene products.
By approving the proposed ordinance before June 1, it would take effect July 31, 2022, two years earlier than the statewide ban, which takes effect in 2024, Hammill said.
Meanwhile, the business organization Sustainable Connections has been using a Department of Ecology grant to help businesses comply with the new rules, said Rose Lathrop, director of the Toward Zero Waste and other programs.
“We’ve been supporting businesses of all kinds in their waste reduction,” Lathrop told The Herald.
“We’re trying to help them reduce single-use plastics. But we wanted to be as supportive as possible to restaurants and be as sensitive as possible,” she said.
“Restaurants have been put through the wringer so much this year” because of closures and restrictions to curb the new coronavirus pandemic, Lathrop said.
Promoting waste reduction is an investment that can give some businesses an advantage.
“Consumers are getting more educated in wanting to go zero-waste. It’s proving to be an asset,” she said.
“We want to get all those compostable materials and organic products out of the waste stream. We want to be part of the solution,” Lathrop said. “We have a lot of businesses in Bellingham that have already made this effort. This will level the playing field.”
