The Alaska House on Tuesday voted to ban single-use polystyrene plastic, often known under the brand name of Styrofoam, in the state’s food service industry, and along the way, a bunch of Republicans collectively lost their minds.
Backers of the measure say that while HB 25 isn’t a wholesale ban on polystyrene in packaging and other industries, removing it from the food service industry is a critical first step in a broader effort to phase out the toxic and polluting product. Polystyrene isn’t biodegradable and breaks down into microplastics that have made it to just about every corner of the world, including in people’s brains.
While the food service industry accounts for an estimated 10% of polystyrene use in the state, backers argued it’s one of the few areas where legislators can actually make a change, rather than trying to force large companies to change their shipping practices.
“Microplastics are not just a potential problem; it is a problem,” said Anchorage Democratic Rep. Genevieve Mina in support of the bill, referencing a study that found microplastics in every body of water it tested in Southcentral Alaska. “This bill is small, but find me another policy where we can do something about microplastics that is more than the status quo.”
The bill was brought forward by Anchorage Democratic Rep. Andy Josephson, who said that food service ware is one of the key targets because, unlike packaging, it frequently touches hot food that chemicals can leach into.
“Others said that the bill is imperfect because I’m not doing enough. While I’m not omniscient, I wish I could fix all of the world’s environmental problems, but I’m told that you eat an elephant one bite at a time, and that’s all I’m trying to do,” he said.
Unsurprisingly, a broad swath of minority House Republicans opposed the bill.
While most seemed to acknowledge that polystyrene contributes to a multitude of health problems, eye-sore pollution and environmental damage, several said they had to prioritize the profitability of private businesses and that it should be left up to the market to decide.
“This bill would actually mandate that private industry must use more expensive alternatives to polystyrene, which is already known to be inexpensive and effective and has been the industry standard,” said Eagle River Republican Rep. Dan Saddler. “Forgive me for using the term nanny state, but it is this is the using the power of government to force people to do things that government believes are best for you. We’re the government. We’re here to help you. We know best. And I just don’t agree with that.”
Saddler, like some others, also suggested that while polystyrene has documented health impacts, they can’t be sure the paper-based replacement won’t actually be much worse. He also fretted that the state’s recycling system would lack the capacity to handle additional paper-based takeout containers, a concern recyclers did not actually share.
Some Republicans were so incensed by the bill that their speeches devolved into near-shouting — like Fairbanks Republican Rep. Will Stapp, who called the bill “putting lipstick on a Styrofoam polystyrene pig” — but most were deeply dismissive and let everyone know.
“Here we are spending a whole day on plastic containers,” said Rep. DeLena Johnson, the House Minority leader who yesterday complained that House Republicans weren’t being “allowed to breath” on the House floor. “And I would say that this is a feel-good bill, maybe even some would say it was virtue signaling.”
Between the shouting and the hurt feelings, others claimed that it was the Democrats who were the ones being “emotional” about the legislation.
“We’re talking about our health, our children’s health, the health of our planet. We’re talking about all these things, but we need to be honest. What does it do? What does it do to our businesses?” said Big Lake Republican Rep. Kevin McCabe in opposition to the bill.
And still others worried about what would happen to the trees if the food service industry switched to all-biodegradable products.
“We’re going to shift to paper. What about deforestation?” asked Wasilla Republican Rep. Steve St. Clair, who got the position because he was appointed by Dunleavy. “What about taking all of our trees that are sucking up the carbon monoxide and changing it into oxygen? Just saying.”
(For the record, trees intake carbon dioxide, not carbon monoxide. Would be nice if they did, but they don’t.)
Democrats defended the bill, arguing that there are things more important than businesses’ bottom lines and that it’s appropriate for the state to step in when it’s a matter of public health.
“I heard the (Republican) Minority Whip (Justin Ruffridge) state that the one group of people that we were sent here to advocate for were small businesses that use disposable food service ware,” said Anchorage Democratic Rep. Andrew Gray. “I would argue with the minority whip that we may have been sent here to argue and advocate on behalf of other groups as well. … Disposable food service ware made out of polystyrene is not healthy for you. It is not healthy for your customers, it is not healthy for our beaches, it is not healthy for our oceans.”
But, somewhat surprisingly, not all Republicans were quite so single-mindedly dedicated to the private sector’s bottom line and saw merit in government intervention.
One of those was right-wing Glenallen Republican Rep. Rebecca Schwanke, who said that a decade ago she would have opposed the bill, but that there are many safe and cheap alternatives now.
“Polystyrene never breaks down. It does break up into small pieces, and it ends up in our waterways and on our lands. It ends up in fish, it ends up in wildlife, and it eventually ends up in us. It’ll end up in the bloodstream of our children and our grandchildren and their grandchildren,” she said. “10 years ago, I would not have supported this bill, because I don’t think that at that point we had viable, affordable alternatives, but we do now.”
Schwanke noted that a dozen other states have banned polystyrene, and three communities in Alaska have done so (Canada, much of the European Union and many island nations have also banned it). She noted that while local bans are an option for organized communities, it’s not available in broad swaths of the state where there is no local government. She said in those cases, it’s up to legislators to decide.
During the amendment process, Schwanke successfully introduced an exemption for reusable polystyrene products, such as coolers frequently used for shipping fish.
She also broke with her colleagues’ complaints that switching to non-polystyrene take-out containers would break the backs of many local businesses.
“We have tin foil, it’s waterproof. We have wax paper, it’s waterproof,” she said. “I think there are a lot of straw man arguments about not passing this bill because it would impact small business owners. … These are packages that we dispose of, sometimes in a matter of minutes or hours. There are alternatives. There are affordable alternatives. They are available today, and they’ll be available tomorrow.”
Schwanke was joined by a handful of other conservative Republicans in supporting the bill, including Wasilla Reps. Jubilee Underwood and Elexie Moore, Ketchikan Rep. Jeremy Bynum and Fairbanks Rep. Frank Tomaszewski.
The bill passed 25-15 and now heads to the Senate for consideration.