Before he leaves office next month, Mayor Bloomberg is ordering one more takeout — Styrofoam.
At the request of the mayor, the City Council’s Sanitation Committee is holding a hearing Monday on a bill to prohibit the use and sale of plastic foam cups and plates that have long been ubiquitous in delis, bodegas and even school cafeterias.
Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway will testify on behalf of the administration, which first proposed the ban in the summer and is now rushing to get it enacted into law.
Sanitation officials say plastic foam food containers add 23,000 tons of trash a year to landfills, The city’s total total waste stream is more than three million tons.
The officials say the ban is warranted because foam containers are non-biodegradable, can’t be recycled and spoil the environment.
But opponents claim the move is just another Bloomberg Nanny initiative that will hike consume prices with more costly alternative products,
The bill to outlaw Styrofoam was introduced by Brooklyn Councilman Lew Fidler and has the support of Speaker Christine Quinn and Letitia James, the Public Advocate-elect who chairs the Council’s sanitation panel.
Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio proposed a similar measure as public advocate in 2010, according to his office website.
Bloomberg’s office said the foam ban is a no-brainer.
“When polystyrene foam is used for food service it becomes a devastating pollutant that infects our parks and waterways while never biodegrading and has been classified a carcinogenic health hazard by the National Institute of Health,” said Bloomberg spokesman Jake Goldman.
Officials said the ban could shave millions of dollars in disposal and recycling costs.
Chain restaurants that have already stopped using polystyrene foam include Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, Wendy’s, McDonalds, Red Lobster and Arby’s, officials said.
“I’m not a toadie for the mayor. But when he’s right, he’s right,” said Fidler, the sponsor.. “Let’s get this done. “
But some merchants say it’s another example of mayoral overreach.
“I use foam containers because they’re great at keeping food fresh and because they’re economical,” said Rosemary Nunez, owner of La Nueva Estrella El Castillo restaurant in Brooklyn. “This is just another example of the administration trampling on the interests of the people who create jobs in this city.”
There is also some resistance on the Council.
Council members Peter Vallone (D-Queens) and Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan) are pushing separate proposal to recycle Styrofoam products.
Bloomberg and Fidler dispute claims that “dirty” foam containers covered with food are recyclable. But as a compromise, Fidler said he’s amending the bill to include language authorizing the sanitation commissioner in the future to recycle if, and when, it’s feasible to do so.
The American Chemistry Council says replacing foam cups and trays with the lowest cost alternatives would cost $91.3 million.
The trade group study said there are 1,215 employees in the Styrofoam industry in New York whose jobs would be at stake if a ban is imposed.
If the bill passes, the new law wouldn’t take effect until July 1, 2015.