In his first remarks since the City Council’s Sustainability Subcommittee began researching a ban on Styrofoam food containers, Göran Eriksson said that “we can do a comprehensive solution.

“What we will be proposing could take us into a leadership position in a lot of areas regarding how we handle our waste materials and food containers.”

A preliminary resolution on the heavily – and emotionally – anticipated prohibition will come back to the Council on Monday, Oct. 24.

Mr. Eriksson and his subcommittee partner Meghan Sahli-Wells have been knee-deep in research since early August.

“We are talking about material that is recyclable, that is compostable,” Mr. Eriksson said. “We know now that you can recycle Styrofoam and you can recycle polystyrene. There is a company doing that, and they are only a 20-minute drive from our doors.

“We can do that with contaminated polystyrene or clean,” said the freshman Councilman. “It doesn’t matter. “They take it all, and they ship it to Indiana to a factory that produces a couple different things from it.”

Good news, said Mr. Eriksson, is that the Midwestern factory boasts of ample capacity. “They have plenty of room, and they want more material,” he said.

Instead of sending Styrofoam to a landfill, the Councilman said it could be put to a more pragmatic born-again usage.

(To be continued)