SWAMPSCOTT — The Solid Waste Advisory Committee voted unanimously to pass a draft regulatory proposal banning restaurants and businesses that prepare food and beverages from using certain single-use plastics and Styrofoam in their takeout containers at a special meeting Wednesday night.
SWAC Chair Wayne Spritz said the proposed bylaw was drafted after consulting local business owners, the North Shore Chamber of Commerce, and the Massachusetts Restaurant Association.
After a proposed Town Meeting warrant article that would have banned the use of plastic and Styrofoam in food establishments was indefinitely postponed in April, SWAC initiated a working group to draft more comprehensive plastic and Styrofoam regulations.
“What we’re really here to do is to review the bylaw by key points and incorporate the feedback to a point where we can have a public hearing and invite restaurant business owners,” Spritz said. “(We would) then consolidate that and present a final draft to the Select Board and to the Board of Health.”
If passed, the regulation would prohibit food establishments, or businesses that prepare and serve food, from distributing takeout containers or utensils made from materials such as polystyrene, also known by the brand name Styrofoam, polyvinyl chloride, black plastic materials, or any plastic material that cannot be recycled in Swampscott.
Spritz said that exemptions for some plastics, such as polypropylene, which is durable, reusable, dishwasher safe, and recyclable on the state level, although not in Swampscott, should be considered by the Board of Health.
“I want the town to be environmentally responsible. I want our vendors to be environmentally responsible — that’s the whole point of this bylaw. I am troubled with what to do about polypropylene. That being said, there could be some wiggle room that the Board of Health could allow for,” Spritz said.
When Spritz presented a clause of the bylaw that would require food establishments using plastic materials on-site to provide a recycling option, Select Board member and SWAC liaison MaryEllen Fletcher suggested that the clause does not apply to restaurants like Dockside Pub, which Spritz said does not serve plastic for in-house dining.
“I would support a bylaw next year saying everybody has to be recycling,” Fletcher said. “My concern is if you’re focused on plastics, and you’re saying, ‘If your business is serving food and plastics, you are expected to have recycling for the plastics that you’re using.’ Whereas, a business like Dockside, a new restaurant, wouldn’t have to.”
The regulation also includes a “Skip the Stuff” provision, which, modeled after Massachusetts House Bill 766, requires that food establishments offering single-use utensils and condiment packets only provide such items upon request by customers or at a self-serve station.
The bylaw would be enforced by a Board of Health member or an agent appointed by the Board of Health to inspect food establishments. First offenses would carry a written warning, second offenses would result in a $50 fine, third offenses would result in a $100 fine, and fourth and subsequent offenses would carry $300 fines.
Spritz said exemptions could be made available through the Board of Health’s approval in the event that an establishment can prove “undue hardship.”
“That covers, let’s say, nursing homes where they may need Styrofoam cups for whatever particular reason, or they may need a straw for a particular reason. We just need to be cognizant of that,” Spritz said. “Anything that would deprive a person of a legally protected right.”
Spritz said SWAC plans to meet with the Board of Health to seek bylaw sponsorship on Oct. 12 before further discussions with restaurant owners and members of the public.
