The City Council of Redwood City last night took a step toward approving a ban on the use of styrofoam by local businesses.

Council members indicated they may be willing to align their policy with similar, existing ordinances in local jurisdictions such as Milbrae, Foster City, Burlingame, Half Moon Bay and unincorporated regions of San Mateo County.

The proposed ban seeks to do away with polystyrene-based containers, more commonly known as styrofoam, due to the negative impact on the environment that the material is known to cause.

Under the direction of council, City Manager Bob Bell said he would begin drafting an ordinance that works to forbid using the material, but also includes an outreach plan to local merchants that would inform them of the forthcoming policy.

Some members of the council expressed the desire to grant local business owners enough time to get rid of the current stock of styrofoam before the new policy is enacted.

Councilwoman Barbara Pierce said she believed that enacting the ban is a step in the right direction for the city, as she has personally witnessed the damaging effects that styrofoam can have on the local environment while participating in local creek cleanup events.

Allison Chan, a policy associate with Save The Bay, also advocated for the council to move ahead with the ban.

"Foodware is a commonly littered kind of styrofoam. It is terrible. It is everywhere. It is pervasive," she said "The best way to prevent styrofoam litter is to stop it at its source, and ban this polluting material."

The county Board of Supervisors approved a ban on using styrofoam in unincorporated regions that went into effect last July. As part of passing that ordinance, the county encouraged all other local jurisdictions to take similar action.

County Environmental Health Services Director Dean Peterson, who attended the council meeting last night, said the county would handle enforcement of any violations of the ban, should the city elect to adopt the county's existing policy.

But he said the city would be responsible for reaching out to its own local business owners before the new law is enacted, and deciding when would be the right time to implement the policy.

According to Peterson, the county has not been required to enforce any violations of its styrofoam ban since it was implemented last July.

Mayor Alicia Aguirre said she believed that coordinating the city's ban with the county's was a good idea, and that it makes sense in the context of the effort to increase regionalization of policy.

Councilman Ian Bain said he supported the ordinance, despite some of the difficulty initially associated with implementing it.

"It may be hard to swallow at first for some merchants," he said. "But it is the right thing to do."

Bell said that next he would being researching with surrounding jurisdictions that have already implemented such a ban, and then return to council in about one month to begin developing a local policy.

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