A proposal before the St. Paul City Council would ban restaurants and stores from offering food take-out containers, to-go soda cups and hot liquid cups that cannot be readily composted or recycled.

Council members, who have been meeting with industry representatives for months, will host a public hearing Wednesday.

They have no illusions about the degree of pushback they expect from restaurateurs, convenience store owners and lobbyists for food-container companies.

The proposal has already yielded a criminal investigation — but no charges — in the case of Council Member Dai Thao, a mayoral candidate who repeatedly asked representatives of a container company for campaign “resources” during a private meeting with them over the proposed restrictions.

The Foodservice Packaging Institute, the Plastics Foodservice Packaging Group and the Minnesota Hmong Chamber of Commerce all have raised concerns or asked for specific exemptions for their products.

The Macalester-Groveland District Council, Union Park District Council, West Side Community Organization and District 1 Community Council on Old Hudson Road all support the regulations.

Others are undecided.

Toua Xiong, owner of the HmongTown Marketplace on Como Avenue, said city officials presented details of the proposal to his tenants — most of them family vendors — back in March, but he’d like a follow-up meeting to clear up continuing confusion.

“The tenants are not aware yet,” he said. “For me as a property owner, I’m not in a position to make any decision on behalf of the tenants who are personally affected by those costs. I need them to be part of the decision-making process.”

Council President Russ Stark said he’s heard supportive comments from advocacy groups such as TakeAction Minnesota and Eureka Recycling, and even some business owners.

“I just got a letter from the owner of the Buttered Tin,” said Stark, who began working with city staff on the proposal last year after similar bans on noncompostable to-go containers rolled out in Minneapolis, and an even more stringent ban passed in St. Louis Park.

Stark said that in St. Paul, the proposed restrictions offer businesses exemptions for financial hardship or if business owners cannot find a comparable, affordable alternative to the type of food take-out container they currently maintain.

Under the new rules, companies would have a year to institute the changes. Hospitals and nursing homes would be exempt.

Ramsey County has been hosting vendor fares so businesses can sample compostable or recyclable products. Some businesses that operate in both St. Paul and Minneapolis or St. Louis Park already have made the switch.

“Styrofoam is cheap. And so the step from polystyrene to another product will increase costs,” Stark acknowledged. “There’s no two ways about it. (On the other hand), people like black plastic because it presents well, but the alternatives to black plastic are either a comparable price or in some cases a bit cheaper.”

Styrofoam makers have claimed that their products can be recycled, which is technically accurate, but city officials say it’s difficult to impossible to find local companies who will do it readily.

To-go cups for hot liquids tend to have a plastic lining, and the market is small for the alternative — cups lined with a corn-based material that mimics plastic — therefore increasing costs. Those prices likely will drop as more cities institute similar bans and the market grows.

Meanwhile, Stark noted that some restaurants have actually saved money by switching to compostable products.

That’s because Ramsey County puts a fairly hefty tax on trash hauling, but not on compost hauling. Restaurants such as Salut Bar American on Grand Avenue have worked with Ramsey County’s “Biz Recycling” program to find affordable haulers that specialize in compost removal.

In addition to cost concerns, opponents call the container ban ill-timed. St. Paul’s business community is still in the midst of adjusting to a paid sick leave mandate that went into effect for the city’s large businesses this summer and takes effect for small businesses on Jan. 1.

Restrictions limiting menthol tobacco sales to adults-only tobacco stores are still being debated and fine-tuned by the council, and labor advocates last week joined together outside St. Paul City Hall to call for a $15 minimum wage.

Meanwhile, street maintenance costs will shift next year, in large part, away from annual fees based on linear feet of street frontage and toward property taxes, which will have an impact on commercial properties more than most other property types.

“One of the things I’m hearing is some concern about the number of different regulations applying to some businesses,” Stark said. “I wouldn’t put this at the top of the list this year in terms of contentious issues. I think there’s a lot of support out there from constituents who are residents of St. Paul.”