Portland is all but certain to ban plastic straws after a City Council vote Wednesday.

Council members adopted a resolution instructing the city Bureau of Planning and Sustainability to come up with a plan to "reduce single-use non-recyclable plastics" and to ban plastic straws in particular.

Plastic straws are one of the most common forms of litter, Mayor Ted Wheeler said during a hearing, and are "littering Portland's waterfront, our streets and our parks." Wheeler said straws are of particular concern because they cannot be recycled in Portland.

Susan Anderson, the planning bureau director, testified that by curtailing the use of plastic straws the city is "doing its part to protect the environment." She handed each commissioner a metal straw – which can be reused indefinitely – and said each now could set an example by forgoing use of plastic ones.

Many Portland businesses are already a step ahead of the council. More than 100 local bars and restaurants have over the last two years voluntarily stopped serving drinks with plastic straws, favoring paper straws, metal straws or a straw-on-demand policy. One of the first was Widmer Brothers Brewery; a company representative testified Wednesday that customers approve of the no-straw policy.

Commissioners voted to adopt the resolution 3-0. Commissioner Dan Saltzman and Commissioner Nick Fish were absent. It instructs city sustainability officials to come back with a straw-ban plan in October, when council members will likely add it into city code.

Wheeler struck an aspirational tone Wednesday, saying the city has "a lot of work ahead" to make more kinds of packaging and plastics environmentally friendly.

"This is but a start, but I think it's a meaningful and important start," the mayor said, adding, "We need to move aggressively."

-- Gordon R. Friedman

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