Foam coolers, bean bag chairs filled with polystyrene beads, and arts and crafts supplies made with microplastics are now part of a proposed citywide ban on single-use foam food containers advanced by Long Beach leaders on Tuesday.

The City Council voted unanimously to expand the scope of the ban to include some retail sales after a lengthy discussion on an issue the city has been working on for years. The newest iteration of the law will be phased in over 18 months (rather than 15), and it includes a provision that would bar eateries from providing straws and utensils with takeout orders unless requested by customers.

Polystyrene, often incorrectly referred to as Styrofoam, a brand name owned by the Dow Chemical Company (similar to Kleenex or Band-Aid), is a type of plastic manufactured from non-renewable fossil fuels and synthetic chemicals. It is comprised of 95 percent air, and is most commonly used in takeout containers in the food service industry.

The ordinance, expected to be approved by council in the coming months, will require restaurants, coffee shops, food trucks, fast food establishments and all other businesses that serve food to stop using food and beverage containers made of expanded polystyrene, rigid polystyrene and other non-compostable and non-recyclable products.

Time table

The first phase of the ban would take effect three months after the ordinance becomes law, and would include city facilities and city-permitted events. The second phase would take effect at the nine-month mark for eateries with more than 100 seats, defined as “large businesses.” The final phase, at 18 months, involves small businesses with fewer than 101 seats, as well as retail locations.

Concerned about potential impacts on small businesses, the council asked for a study on those affects — both locally and in other cities that have adopted similar regulations — around year one of the implementation, prior to expanding the ban to small businesses. The ordinance will also include options for hardship waivers and incentives for businesses that comply early.

“I think this is our chance to work with you, not against you,” said Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez, who revived the push for a citywide ban last December following an alarming study of microplastics on local beaches.

The garbage patch

Algalita, the Long Beach-based marine research firm that did the study, was the first to expose the severity of the issue after its founder Capt. Charles Moore discovered an island of plastic floating in the Pacific Ocean, known today as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Moore encouraged the council on Tuesday to adopt the ban, as did the firm’s executive director, Katie Allen, who referenced a recent study that found approximately four million pieces of expanded polystyrene on a two-mile stretch of beach from the Belmont Pier to the Peninsula. Another study done by Algalita has shown these microplastics, which take centuries to biodegrade, are breaking down at such a level that we may no longer be able to clean it from the beaches, she said.

The issue is so horrendous, Allen said, that Algalita regularly invites plastic industry leaders from around the world to Long Beach to sift through the sandy shores.

“Long Beach is quickly becoming known as ‘the beach’ to see microplastics,” she said.

The problem is compounded by the fact that Long Beach sits between the mouths of the Los Angeles and San Gabriel rivers, which means the beach city is the recipient of tons of trash from cities upstream. And 79 of the 88 cities in Los Angeles County are without any regulations on the use of polystyrene products.

“A ban is just going to be a band aid unless we get the rest of the county on board with what we’re doing,” Councilman Al Austin said. “We can’t do it alone and we are not going to fix the problem unless we bring everybody on board.”

Councilwoman Suzie Price agreed, saying that the conversation needs to include local and regional agencies in Orange and Los Angeles counties.

Councilwoman Stacy Mungo suggested using resources to place Big Belly-like trash compactors in business corridors, along waterways and in parks. But the pricey receptacles cost about $4,500 apiece, and the city does not have money for that right now, Public Works Director Craig Beck said. He said, however, that his department would look at similar alternatives to Big Belly, a pricey brand name.

Acknowledging that it would take a larger effort to make any meaningful progress, the council was still in agreement that, as the second largest city in Los Angeles County, it needs to lead the charge.

“We do need to make a statement that if folks are going to enjoy our beaches, if we have communities that live along our rivers, we have to make an example for all the cities that are upriver,” Vice Mayor Rex Richardson said.

City Attorney Charles Parkin said the ordinance will likely return to council in late December or early January, meaning phase one of the implementation could begin as early as this spring.