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REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION Date: 10/21/2024 Item No.: 7.a. Department Approval City Manager Approval Item Description: Green To Go Ordinance Discussion 1 2 Background 3 180 licensed food businesses currently operate in the City of Roseville, and the COVID-19 4 pandemic resulted in many more restaurants offering take-out service; digital ordering and 5 delivery have grown 300% faster than dine-in traffic since 2014. 20-30% of restaurant sales 6 now come from delivery, generating a significant amount of packaging waste. 7 8 Food waste and packaging make up about 45% of all materials in U.S. landfills, and some 9 studies suggest that restaurants account for nearly 80% of disposable packaging waste in 10 the U.S. Of these materials, polystyrene, better known as Styrofoam, is commonly used in 11 food takeout containers. Production, usage, and disposal of this substance presents 12 multiple environmental and public health risks, including contribution to the presence of 13 microplastics in soil and waterways. Following a January 2022 presentation from a 14 University of Minnesota scientist on microplastics and their environmental effect, the Public 15 Works, Environment, and Transportation Commission (PWETC) requested staff research 16 zero waste ordinances in other cities. 17 18 As of October 2024, the cities of Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Saint Louis Park, and Edina have 19 enacted ordinances to require takeout food packaging to be either commercially 20 compostable or recyclable, and staff has discussed a potential ordinance with the PWETC 21 several times over the past two years. Additionally, the Packaging Waste and Cost 22 Reduction Act was passed in the 2024 Minnesota legislative session, which will require all 23 packaging in Minnesota to be recyclable or compostable by 2032. 24 25 The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s Metropolitan Policy Plan for the Solid Waste 26 Management sets forth a goal for metro counties to reach a 75% recycling rate by 2030. As 27 of 2020, Roseville’s recycling rate was 46.2%. Implementing a takeout food packaging 28 ordinance, in combination with Ramsey County’s forthcoming Food Scraps Pickup 29 program, would help the City of Roseville come closer to meeting that goal. Additionally, 30 commercial businesses could reduce their solid waste fees by separately disposing of 31 compostable materials and food waste. 32 33 Staff recently concluded a community engagement process spanning approximately five 34 months, which included online surveys for both business owners and residents, a landing Page 1 of 2 Qbhf!4!pg!286