Black plastic takeout containers — to ban or not to ban?

Eureka Recycling, which handles curbside recycling in St. Paul, bans the popular black-plastic packaging from its bins, as well as plastic products marked No. 3 and No. 6.

On Wednesday, the St. Paul City Council is scheduled to discuss a proposed ban on non-compostable or non-recycled takeout materials that likely would bar all three types of products from restaurants.

The proposed “Green To-Go” ordinance makes no specific mention of black plastics. It leaves it to the St. Paul Department of Safety and Inspections to determine what specific products pass muster — but restaurant owners say it’s clear their container of choice is on the chopping block.

Meanwhile, Dave Cossetta, proprietor of Cossetta Alimentari on West Seventh Street, issued a letter to the city clerk and city attorney’s office on Tuesday asking the city council for a public hearing on the proposal. Some city council members anticipated a final vote on Feb. 27 without a new hearing.

Cossetta noted it’s been nearly 18 months since the last time the public was allowed to weigh in before the council in person.

And since that time, two new council members have joined the seven-member board. Mitra Nelson won a special election to the Ward 4 seat that had been held by Russ Stark, and Kassim Busuri was recently appointed in Ward 6 to complete Dan Bostrom’s unexpired term. Nelson and her staff have worked at length on the new proposal.

Cossetta said the ban should be treated as a new ordinance, not a continuation or reboot of the one voted down by the council in 2017.

For new ordinances, “the city council is required to read the proposed ordinance at at least three city council meetings and hold public meetings on the matter,” reads the letter from attorney Robert Pearson of Johnson, Killen and Seiler.

In a second letter to the council, Cossetta said that switching from black plastic takeout containers to recyclable plastic packaging made by New Jersey-based Yoshi would more than double his annual costs from $280,000 to $596,000.

“We are absolutely in agreement for recycling because we have done it since recycling has started,” said Cossetta, whose grandfather opened the deli in 1911 that has since blossomed into a sit-down restaurant, pizzeria, cafe and small grocer. “But we cannot be the recycling company also!”

The recycling industry takes a dim view of black plastics, which are difficult but not impossible to recycle. Due to their color, machine scanners have a tough time “reading” the material and determining how it should be sorted, and the plastics command little resale value.

Environmental advocates also take a dim view of disposable cups made with plastic linings, though those too can be recycled to some degree under the right conditions.

If approved by the city council, the new “Green To-Go” rules would take effect by Jan. 1, 2021. Minneapolis, St. Louis Park and other cities have already passed similar measures.