Plan to limit foam takeout boxes debated in Mpls.

A proposal to restrict the use of takeout containers made out of foam and other hard-to-recycle plastics advanced Monday at Minneapolis City Hall, following testimony from both sides.

Most of the dozen or so people who addressed council members, including environmentalists, voiced support for the ordinance before the City Council's health and environment committee.

But some opponents representing the packaging industry told council members that it would take away consumers' choices and that recycling polystyrene foam is possible.

"A ban on polystyrene foam is fairly drastic," said Russ Snyder, plant manager at Genpak LLC, which produces food containers and packaging. "It won't eliminate waste, and … will be replaced by another form of packaging."

The measure mandates that restaurants, food trucks, grocery stores and event vendors offer customers food only in cups, plates, and to-go containers that are easily recyclable or reusable. Prepackaged food by a manufacturer would be excluded.

The changes, written as revisions to a rarely-enforced 25 year-old ordinance, also expand the types of "environmentally acceptable packaging" to include compostable items and lower the penalty for businesses from a misdemeanor to an administrative citation.

If approved by the full City Council, the new law would take effect on the next Earth Day: April 22, 2015.

For instance, last year New York enacted a ban on food stores using the material, but the city is continuing to explore whether there is an economically feasible recycling market for polystyrene foam. If there isn't, the prohibition will take effect July 2015.

Supporters said that even a slight increase in cost for businesses was worth it. A representative of Indian restaurant Gandhi Mahal said that they began paying a few cents extra for more environmentally friendly containers after customers challenged them to go green, and "we believe we are absolutely doing the right thing."

But Carol Lynn Miller complained that Red's Savoy Pizza would see a 30 percent increase in prices from switching to different packaging. Miller, who represents the Uptown restaurant along with the Seville Club downtown, said they would be competing with restaurants in other towns that don't have the same rules.

"We would have to increase prices," she said.

Council Member Andrew Johnson, who introduced the proposal, said the effect on businesses is something city officials want to think about. But people are already paying a price for allowing this packaging, he added, noting the cost to remove the materials from the recycling stream, unclog storm drains and pick up litter.