Local restaurant owners gathered in San Diego Friday to oppose a proposal that would ban styrofoam products.
The proposal restricts the sale of take-out food containers made with polystyrene and plastic foam.
The Environmental Services Department is to provide a list of safe alternative containers.
“If we buy the other containers it’s like four times more expensive,” said Aristotels Garcia, the owner of Wings Empire, a restaurant in San Diego. “We’ll have less employees and be losing money and have less customers. We need the foam right now.”
The demonstrators gave 50 letters of disapproval to City Councilwoman Myrtle Cole’s district office on Euclid Avenue.
Multiple restaurant owners at the office Friday said they would most likely be forced to shut down and go out of business if they have to use alternative containers.
“It costs eight cents apiece for the containers I use now and the new containers are forty-five cents apiece,” said Garcia. “That would be an extra $2,000 a month just for containers.”
Those in favor of the styrofoam ban said it would help the ecosystem and reduce pollution.
Over the summer, members of the city council voted 3-2 to approve the proposal for consideration by the full council.
Source: NBC San Diego
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