A bill adding bags described as biodegradable and compostable to the list of plastic bags that retailers cannot give to Oahu customers starting in 2015 continues to move through the Honolulu City Council.
Bill 38 advanced out of the Public Works and Sustainability Committee on Wednesday.
The latest draft of the bill, introduced by Councilman Breene Harimoto, makes clear that all plastic bags would fall under the ban, including those described as or generally known as biodegradable and compostable.
The ban would take effect July 1, 2015, as originally planned when the City Council passed the original plastic bag ban in April 2012.
That ordinance, however, gave an exemption to plastic bags labeled as biodegradable, defined as "a substance that can be broken down in the environment by natural processes."
Harimoto said officials with the Department of Environmental Services voiced concerns about monitoring and enforceability of the exemptions, however, noting that there is no standard definition of what’s biodegradable. Environmental groups, meanwhile, said plastic bags labeled as biodegradable and even compostable still do not break down well and could pose a threat to both sea animals and the environment.
After weighing the matter, Harimoto decided to insert language into the bill to make clear that the ban is on plastic checkout bags, which is defined as all carryout bags businesses provide to customers that are "made from compostable or non-compostable plastic and not specifically designed and manufactured for multiple re-use."
There continued to be some confusion among Council members during the meeting after they heard conflicting testimony about whether there is a readily available compostable bag that contains no plastic and is safe for the environment.
The matter appeared to be settled when Ari Patz, regional manager for environmentally friendly product manufacturer World Centric, said there are "bioplastic" bags that are not made from petroleum-based materials but from polylactic acid, a corn-based polymer. Bags made from such materials, while better than standard plastic bags, still would not break down as quickly if not composted and still pose a health hazard, he said.
Tim Houghton, the city’s deputy environmental services director, said a composting facility scheduled to come online next year is supposed to handle only green waste. Placing compostable bags in the mix would require a separate waste stream and require additional cost.
The Hawaii Food Industry Association has opposed the inclusion of compostable bags, instead urging the Council to consider instituting a standard for compostable bags used by the Biodegradable Products Institute, or to instead simply charge a fee on single-use bags.
But Laura Zirbel, the association’s executive director, said she could not comment on Harimoto’s latest draft because she had not seen it.
Among the groups supporting the bill are the Sierra Club Oahu Chapter, the Surfrider Foundation and B.E.A.C.H., Beach Environmental Awareness Campaign Hawai‘i.
The committee on Wednesday deferred two other highly contentious bills, citing the need to gather more information.
Bill 40 would bar restaurateurs, food truck vendors and others who serve prepared food from using containers made of expanded polystyrene foam and instead use compostable containers.
Council Public Works Chairman Stanley Chang said he co-introduced the bill with Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi to address the health and environmental concerns surrounding polystyrene.
But a number of food vendors, backed by the Hawaii Food Industry Association and the Hawaii Restaurant Association, testified that requiring compostable food containers would add costs at a time when many of them are struggling to survive.
Harris Sukita, co-owner of the Simply Ono chain of lunch wagons, testified that compostable containers cost twice as much as standard foam ones. When given the option of paying a little more for a compostable container, no one opted to pay the higher price, he said.
Environmental groups countered that applying the same standard across Oahu would ensure a level playing field for all restaurateurs who use takeout containers.
Kobayashi said before the bill moves forward, the Council should adopt a resolution asking the administration to study the financial impacts of the ban.
Chang called the deferral temporary, describing a ban as "inevitable."
The Council also deferred Bill 41, which would discard the city’s existing once-a-month curbside bulky item pickup policy for one year, instead putting in place a pilot project that would have city dump trucks appearing only when requested by a property owner, and only for a yet-to-be-determined, per-pickup fee.
Kobayashi called for the bill to be deferred after several of her colleagues voiced concerns that the change would encourage abuse by unscrupulous residents who might place their sofas, refrigerators and other bulky items on neighbors’ sidewalks.
