Dunkin Denied Waiver From Pittsfield's Styrofoam Ban
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Dunkin' Donuts will not be granted a waiver from the city's ban on the use of Styrofoam.
Dunkin Brands has twice gone before the Board of Health asking for a waiver from the polystyrene ban because the company does not have a compliant cap for the extra-large containers. Representatives said the cups are conforming but the cap is still being developed and could be ready for implementation later this year. The waiver request was only for the cap on the 24-ounce cups.
On Wednesday, the Board of Health said it doesn't believe the company meets the requirements of getting a waiver.
"I don't know if I feel as though Dunkin has really met that standard," member Jay Green said. "I think that ordinance has a relatively high burden and there was some discussion last week that there are viable alternatives if you can't buy an extra large, you can buy a large."
The Board of Health has the ability to grant the waiver which Dunkin was asking, as it has in other communities, for a year to get the compliant caps. But, the requirements for a waiver include there has to be "significant economic hardship" and there are no reasonable alternatives.
"This has already occurred in other stores and in terms of economically significant hardship, that has not been met either," said member Dominca D'Avella said.
Dunkin officials said the extra large size accounts for some $50,000 a year in their stores. However, there are other stores in communities with the ban in which the company doesn't sell the 24-ounce size at all.
"You still have the option of buying a compliant product with a smaller size. A business isn't going to lose any money, they might lose a little bit of money on that one particular item but I don't think that number is going to be high in terms of business impact," Green said.
"If I walk in to a Dunkin' Donuts and I order an extra large and they say, 'I'm sorry, we're out of cups,' I'm just going to save give me the other size. They're still going to get my revenue. I'm still going to get my coffee."
The city's ban on polystyrene food containers goes into affect on July 1, some eight months after City Council voted for it. The goal was both for public health and to reduce littering. The chemical makeup of the containers does not disintegrate when in the environment and has been cited as being a carcinogen.
The ban is a growing trend and locally Great Barrington and Williamstown have both passed similar measures. In the wake of a seemingly national movement to rid cities of the containers, Dunkin launched a new recyclable polypropylene cup, which it debuted in New York City. But, the company is still waiting for a matching lid on the largest of the sizes.
Dunkin does, however, also sell mugs that can be refilled, something the Board of Health cited as being an alternative option.
Dunkin has been the only company so far to ask for an extension for compliance. After July 1, any company still using the product for food containers will be subject to a warning for first offense, $25 for second, and $50 for a third, for each day it is still in use.
Tags: board of health, Dunkin Donuts, polystyrene ,
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