Attorney Pierce Haley, representing Dunkin Brands, asked the Board of Health on Thursday for the extension as the company waits on the development of a lid for 24-ounce containers. Haley said the company has been looking to transition away from the polystyrene containers but needs another year or else it won't be able to serve its larger beverage sizes.
"I don't think we are going to need anything more than one extension. They've been working hard to do this for a while," Haley said.
Those members attending took no action on the request and instead decided to wait until next month when the full board would be present. The deferment would take the company to July 2017 and, until then, Dunkin' would could continue serve all sizes in a new recyclable polypropylene cup, which debuted in
New York City, with the Styrofoam lid.
"The only item that wouldn't be compliant is the lid on the 24-ounce cup," Board of Health member Jay Green said. "A lid on a 24-ounce cup seems less intrusive."
Haley said the company received exemptions from bans in Williamstown and in Brookline. It hopes to roll out the new lids before the end of the extension.
"Ideally, we would prefer to use the recyclable polypropylene cup," Haley said.
The company is working with two vendors — one for the cups and one for the lids. The cups are paper and lined with polypropylene. Lids have been developed for the 20 ounce and the 16 ounce cup but not yet for the 24 ounce. Part of the issue is finding a vendor who will produce the lids in the scale Dunkin' Donuts needs.
Green said he was "inclined to issue a deferment" but the board felt that since it is the first request for such a deferment, it should include the entire board.
"Every time we make some of these considerations it sets a precedent moving forward," Dominica D'Avella said.
Green said he knew there would be vendors asking for such a extension when the ordinance was being crafted so he expects more vendors to apply. The vendors have to show an undue hardship and Green said he'd like the whole board to agree to the limits of that.
"Everything we do will be used as a measuring stick," Green said.
The board tabled the proposal for one month and asked the company to come back and present again. The polystyrene ban in the city on food containers goes into effect on July 1.
