A ban on polystyrene, commonly known by the brand name Styrofoam, went into effect in Oak Park on Jan. 1. The ban established that businesses cannot sell or distribute disposable food containers that partially incorporate or are entirely composed of polystyrene foam packaging.
According to Dan Yopchick, the village’s chief communications officer, implementing the ban has gone smoothly so far.
“From our perspective, the reception from business owners has been positive,” he said. “I haven’t heard anything negative or any pushback against it.”
The ban does not apply to food establishments with an annual gross income less than $500,000 per location until Jan. 1, 2025.
Yopchick said that when eliminating the use of polystyrene was being discussed by the Village Board, concerns were mainly related to smaller establishments with lower income levels.
“So, they decided to do a gradual approach instead with those businesses,” he said.
Examples of disposable food service containers that cannot have polystyrene include service ware for takeout food, bakery products and leftovers, according to Engage Oak Park.
However, coolers or ice chests used to process or ship seafood and service ware used to transport or package raw meat, poultry, fish and seafood are still permitted.
Yopchick said that village staff is regularly educating businesses on this initiative. Part of that education is that the village has worked with Smart Energy Design Assistance Center to develop and share a Disposable Foodware Purchasing Guide, which is available on sustainoakpark.com.
The limit on microplastics was an ordinance approved by the village board of trustees in May 2023. The decision reflects the village’s desire to mitigate climate change through its Climate Ready Oak Park plan.
“I would say that this is just a piece to a bigger puzzle as we work toward reducing our Greenhouse gas emissions and work to be a more sustainable community,” Yopchick said.
As part of this effort, a new ordinance went into effect on June 1, 2023 requiring food establishments in Oak Park to only provide single-use plastic food ware upon request from customers.
According to Yopchick, village staff has been working closely with food establishments to educate them about the new policy. They have also provided downloadable signage and talked with businesses about the seven exceptions in which single-use plastic food ware is allowed.
According to Engage Oak Park, drinking straws are still permitted as well as single-use plastic food ware that is necessary to address safety concerns, comes in a vending machine or is pre-packaged by a manufacturer.
Not-for-profit corporations and federal, state or local government agencies that provide food to needy individuals are exempt from the new policy.
“Staff, led by our Environmental Health division within the Health Department, is responsive to questions and I personally have not heard of any issues with enforcement,” Yopchick said.
Rob Guenthner, owner of Kettlestrings Restaurant Group and President of the Oak Park Chamber of Commerce, said his businesses are not impacted by the ban on polystyrene.
“It really hasn’t had any impact on us because we didn’t use Styrofoam before,” Guenthner said. “At all of our places in Oak Park we’ve used compostable takeout stuff for a long time.”
Guenthner added that although his businesses were impacted by the single-use food ware ordinance, implementing the new rules has ended up being easy.
“We still get a fair amount of people asking for plastic silverware, but it’s certainly not everybody,” he said.
Kettlestrings Restaurant Group includes Kettlestrings Tavern at 800 S. Oak Park Ave., Kettlestrings Grove at 105 S. Marion St. and Betty’s Pizza and Pasta at 1103 South Blvd., all of which are in Oak Park, as well Starship Restaurant & Catering at 7618 Madison St. in Forest Park.
“The concern I hear from other people about the Styrofoam ban is that places that use Styrofoam tend to be lower-cost establishments that do a lot of carry-out and at a lower price point, so moving from Styrofoam to something else is probably going to be more expensive for those folks,” Guenthner said.
He said he has also heard that some business owners feel like certain products, such as soup, deliver better in Styrofoam because soup stays warm and is easy to carry without burning one’s hand when it’s packaged in Styrofoam.
“But I think the benefits will still ultimately outweigh the inconvenience and the slight increased cost,” Guenthner said.