CCP 07102023 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

that is kind of an interesting exemption. He thought it makes sense that if a City is trying to promote not using plastic bags at all why would the City not go all the way but there may be some reason why. He thought staff should research that a little more and come back with some more information on that. Chair Ficek was curious about this too because these Cities had a lot more restrictions with the take-out containers than with the plastic bags which he wondered about as well. Mr. Howey explained he uses his compost bags for a lot of things because these are plant-based resin bags and are strong. He wondered why more people are not using these alternative type of bags for short term use when they are out there and available. Chair Ficek thought a lot of that has to do with education and how many people know about it. He thought expense may be another part of this. Chair Ficek indicated paper is better than plastic and if that is true, is there a way to encourage that as the default of choice rather than plastic. He did not know how that would come into an ordinance. Ms. Bakken thought that was an interesting tactic. She would probably go back to staffing issues to figure how this could logistically be done. The other thing is how popular curbside grocery pickup has become and whenever she has done that she did not think she has ever received paper bags, it has always been plastic and part of that is because of perishable foods they need to keep but she thought that would be an interesting conversation to have with some of the bigger food stores and the Targets to see what they would have to say regarding that. Councilmember Strahan joined online and explained she has had a lot of complaints recently about the trash on Snelling Avenue, especially around Burger King, KFC and along the back of those restaurants with paper bags so she did have some reservations. She noted she did bring this up before but has not done so recently. She thought in Minneapolis this ordinance has seemed to work very well and is changing the mind thought of many people regarding plastic and paper bags. She thought if the City could find a way to beautify the City in the process and a way to reduce trash. She also wanted to make sure with recyclable and compostable take-out containers the City needed a way to make sure the items are not going into the regular trash. Chair Ficek indicated he was not sure if he would be ready to move forward at this time with any kind of recommendation. He thought there was more information needed. Member Hodder explained he would like to see what Eureka is getting in that waste stream and where that stuff goes, as far as what is it and where does it go. Page 6 of 7