Remarks I gave to County Executive Dan McCoy on the Chain Restaurant Styrofoam ban at the recent public hearing at the County Office Building….

I encourage County Executive Dan McCoy to promptly approve Local Law “A” which would require large chain restaurants to phase out the use of Styrofoam dishes and plastic forks. I understand previous speakers have raised technical questions about the wording of the language, however I urge you to sign the law at this time. You have 180 days until the law goes into effect, which provides ample time for you to make a Chaptered Amendment and correct any technical issues. Let’s the legislature debate future changes, once we get this good policy as law.

This currently the law in Suffolk County, population 1.5 million. When I was Mattituck, Long Island, I went to a Dunkin Donuts and got some coffee. The coffee was good, not in a Styrofoam container. There are many chain restaurants in Suffolk County, and none have gone out of business due to the Styrofoam ban. Thanks to competition and competitive markets, none have raised their prices either. Multinational companies simply ate the cost, rather then raising prices. McDonald’s isn’t going to let Burger King beat it in the price game, just over a 2 cent packaging change.

In contrast, Albany County, a small upstate county, population 300,000, should be an easy adjustment to these big chain restaurant establishments. We are just asking chain restaurants to follow the law of Massachusetts, Suffolk County, and many West Coast cities.

Let’s be honest, a ton of Styrofoam cups and containers are tossed out windows from cars. Many folks litter, and a only small portion of that litter gets picked up by volunteers. Sometimes people litter by accident – we all have had the experience when a Styrofoam cup or plastic bag has blown out the open window of our cars. If people are going to litter, let’s make it something that will rot in the woods, or get torn up by a farm tractor and plowed back into the ground, and be mostly harmless.

As a preschooler can tell you, Styrofoam doesn’t biodegrade, but it does it get broken up into small pieces, which are problematic for the environment. It’s bad news, especially it’s mass use in urban environments. We’ve all seen it in our favorite fishing holes, back in woods, and in our parks. Let’s keep our cows from eating it in their feed rations and dying from hardware failure. Let’s ban the most noxious use of this product – as handed out a drive-thus and similar establishments.

To be clear, nothing in this law regulates small business. Nothing in this law prohibits the private ownership of Styrofoam, there is no confiscation program included in this law. You still have the right to go to Walmart and buy Styrofoam plates if you so choose. This only addresses large chain restaurants, and is a good proposal. If there are technical issues with the drafting of this legislation, you have 180 days until it goes into effect to do a Chaptered Amendment.

As such, please approve this law as soon as possible. – Thank you.