The Hermosa Beach City Council has delayed approval of a ban on restaurants’ use of polystyrene takeout containers, including foam takeout boxes and cups, to ensure that the ban will not affect grocery stores’ use of similar containers for items such as vegetables, fruit and milk.
Continued study of the ban was backed by Councilmen Kit Bobko, Michael DiVirgilio and Peter Tucker. Mayor Jeff Duclos and Councilman Howard Fishman voted against delaying the ban.
Bobko and DiVirgilio have opposed the ban. Tucker said he backed the delay to make sure that the ban would not inadvertently cover non-targeted products.
Discarded polystyrene foam quickly flakes into small pieces, and members of environmental groups have complained that the toxic flakes make their way into the ocean and constitute a major source of beach litter.
The ban was opposed by the American Chemistry Council, and was supported by Californians Against Waste, Heal the Bay, Surfrider Foundation and a city-appointed Green Task Force.
About 25 Hermosa restaurants use foam cups and boxes.
