Companies and restaurants in Atascadero, Paso Robles, and unincorporated areas of San Luis Obispo County can use polystyrene products a little longer.
The San Luis Obispo Integrated Waste Management Authority will need to review what comes from the material also known as polystyrene.
Ocean Rock & Roll Diner says that when COVID-19’s only option was exit and withdrawal, they switched from paper containers to polystyrene.
“With the substantial reduction in our income, it helped to have the opportunity to reuse polystyrene,” said owner Marios Pouyioukkas. “It was primarily a survival skill.”
IWMA originally approved a ban in 2019, but delayed its implementation in April 2020 due to the pandemic.
The board decided to follow state mandates and on March 10 voted between 7 and 6 to postpone the ban until a public hearing in April.
But next month a final decision will be made to determine whether the material will remain or be placed in restaurants, grocery stores and even catering companies.
Five Central Coast cities already have the ban in place.
“Of course, if we could do it all over the county with all the necessary containers, it would be fine, but I also recognize that we didn’t have the votes,” said Dawn Ortiz-Legg, board member of IWMA and San Supervisor of the district 3 of the county of Luis Bishop.
In addition to being profitable in difficult times, the owner of Rock & Roll Diner says it prevents food from sinking through paper products.
“The cost of polystyrene foam is about a third of paper products,” Pouyioukkas said.
He says changing the role could mean an increase in the price of food.
“The more things cost us, the more we will have to pass it on to our guests and that is just the basic rule because I am sure not only me but most of the businessmen in our area,” Pouyioukkas explained.
Those who are against the use of containers are concerned about environmental impacts. Polystyrene is not biodegradable.
“It collects and then dissolves quite easily and that’s what goes into the waterways,” Ortiz-Legg said.
Rock & Roll Diner says they are likely to change the role in the coming months as their other location, Pismo Coast Village Grill, already requires it.
“I think in coastal communities, in particular, it would be a good start when we expect the legislature to do more in terms of our recycling situation here in California,” Ortiz-Legg said.
The public hearing is scheduled for April 14.
If the ban goes into effect, business owners could receive fines for violations.
The ban on polystyrene in other cities is still in force.