Forget plastic bags, foam cups if zero-waste strategy adopted

It took some getting used to the mandatory recycling.

But Scott Dover, who recently moved to Seattle from Florida, is ready to say goodbye to plastic grocery bags, which might eventually be banned under a proposal aimed at curbing waste in the city.

"I'd much rather that places give out cloth bags," said Dover, 34, who was walking out of a QFC Thursday morning with a plastic bag holding orange juice and milk.

Plastic-foam cups and containers used for take-out food and gas-station drinks could also be a thing of the past under the aggressive new waste-management proposal being considered by the Seattle City Council.

The recommendations, known as Zero Waste Strategy, call for nearly doubling the rate of recycling and composting in Seattle by at least 2025, according to the consultants' report.

The proposals include providing tax breaks to companies that recycle construction materials. Manufacturers of carpets, plastic foam and paint could be required to pick up items when consumers are done using them. And residents could be required to place organic waste in containers for free recycling pickup.

In a city where people routinely bring their own cups to coffee shops, grocery stores already sell canvas bags, and mulch is a household word, further cutting back on trash seems like the next logical step, advocates of the proposals said.

Still, some small-business owners fear the measures would hurt their bottom line.

City Councilmember Richard Conlin, chair of the Environment, Emergency Management and Utilities Committee, said the proposed changes reflect a new way of looking at trash, in which consumers and businesses both can profit.

"The main thrust: Waste is a resource," Conlin said. "The second thrust: Having a mile-long train of garbage leave Seattle every day is not how we want to be seen."

While the plastic-bag ban garners the most attention, Conlin said the most significant environmental gains would come from reducing organic and construction waste.

The city hired three consultants last year to propose a broad range of solutions for reducing waste. The study, which took five months to complete and was released in April, was sponsored by the City Council and Seattle Public Utilities.

Conlin's committee held an informal public hearing on the recommendations Thursday night and is expected to vote on them June 26.

About 150 people attended the meeting, and many shared their thoughts on city waste.

Several council members listened to residents sound off on topics ranging from polystyrene to reusing construction materials and the proposed Georgetown transfer station.

Sophie Raider, 18, a Seattle high-school student, said her friends have concerns about using nonrecyclable containers for their take-out.

"I know my friends feel really uncomfortable when they get their teriyaki and it comes in a Styrofoam container," she said. Raider said she has started putting together a list of local restaurants that serve food in biodegradable containers.

If approved, the changes would be implemented gradually, starting in 2008.

Other communities, including Mercer Island and Olympia, are considering similar bans, said Heather Trim, with People for Puget Sound, another environmental group.

Nationwide, too, the tide is changing. Portland, San Francisco and Oakland, Calif., have banned plastic-foam food containers or plastic grocery bags, and cities in New York and Connecticut are considering similar measures.

Conlin said the Zero Waste Strategy was conceived when the city was considering adding a third waste-transfer station in the Georgetown area.

The controversy surrounding that now-defunct proposal made the search for more aggressive waste-reduction tactics a priority, Conlin said.

In the past decade, the amount of trash produced by Seattle has shrunk from 765,000 tons in 1995 to 438,000 tons last year, according to city records. But even with improved recycling, consultants said Seattle will continue to dispose of at least 360,000 tons per year.

Small businesses fear switching to biodegradable products would be costly.

At the Rom Mai Thai restaurant on Capitol Hill, plastic foam is used in only a tiny fraction of the packaging now, ever since customers started asking for paper boxes a few years ago, said owner Tu Mekvanich. But paper is a lot more expensive than plastic foam. "It's harder for small restaurants," he said. "Big restaurants can afford to use paper. For us, it's very expensive."

Roxana Popescu: 206-464-2112

or rpopescu@seattletimes.com