Miami-Dade approves ‘watered down’ restrictions on single-use plastics at county sites

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Miami-Dade is moving to limit the use of disposable plastic and Styrofoam at its airports, seaport and public facilities, though businesses operating there will still have some wiggle room when it comes to compliance.

County Commissioners approved a resolution by Eileen Higgins requiring that all new vendor contracts preclude the use of single-use plastics and polystyrene products — straws, containers, utensils, bags and other such items — and instead use reusable or biodegradable alternatives.

It’s not necessarily as strict as it sounds. In committee, Higgins amended the measure to specify that the county administration must require vendors to comply with the restriction “to the greatest extent possible.” Restricted products also won’t include prepackaged food items.

Before the resolution passed by a 10-3 vote Wednesday, Higgins noted that the cities of Miami Beach and Gainesville have passed similar restrictions. So have county-owned Zoo Miami and the privately owned Hard Rock Stadium, she said, adding that both those transitions away from single-use plastics have gone “incredibly smoothly.”

“There is very little difference in price (now) between compostable silverware and plastic silverware. The difference is (that biodegradable products won’t be) breaking down into microplastics, which we all know are headed into (Biscayne) Bay, which head right into the fish and head right into our bodies,” she said.

“We are facing an environmental crisis, a water crisis and quite frankly, a garbage crisis. We have all talked about how we’ve got to be moving to zero waste. This is one way at our county facilities that we can begin to do that.”

Miami-Dade has been at work on a long-term “Zero Waste Master Plan,” which aims to divert 90% or more of its garbage from landfills to incinerators. But the county hit a hitch in February 2023 after its industrial incinerator burned to the ground. Plans for a replacement facility, capable of converting 4,000 tons of trash into energy daily, and where to locate it remain undecided.

Miami-Dade Commission Chair Anthony Rodriguez voted for Higgins’ measure but remarked that because its language is so “watered-down” by the “to the greatest extent possible” condition, it’s less of a requirement than a suggestion.

“I feel comfortable supporting it because we’re now almost encouraging the businesses (to do it), not mandating,” he said.

Commissioner Micky Steinberg, who voted in 2019 as a then-Miami Beach Commissioner for a measure to ban plastic straws and stirrers in the city, said that while Wednesday’s resolution may lead to added costs for businesses in the short term, it will yield savings over time.

“Volume obviously drives down cost,” she said. “It’s a step in the right direction philosophically.”

Some disagreed.

Commissioner Rob Gonzalez, who voted “no” alongside Kevin Marino Cabrera and Juan Carlos Bermudez, called Higgins’ proposal expensive and unnecessary. He pointed to a program called Plastic Free 305 that the county launched in April 2022 to allow businesses to opt into biodegradable product use and the changes Hard Rock Stadium made in 2019 as evidence that businesses will make the switch of their own accord once they’re able to do so.

“What we need to do is get out of the way and let the market decide,” he said, adding that tacking on extra costs for small businesses could harm their ability to compete with bigger companies.

Gonzalez also cited a study by the University of Antwerp in Belgium that found paper and bamboo straws contain PFAS — so-called “forever chemicals” linked to myriad health maladies — more frequently than their plastic counterparts.

He did not mention how the author of the study said he believed plant-based straws were still better than plastic “because you also have the degradation of the plastics into microplastics that can be consumed by animals.”

Commissioner Oliver Gilbert, the panel’s immediate past Chair, mildly mocked Gonzalez’s research.

“I appreciate the fact that you can find anything on the internet,” he said. “We should move past the point where we understand that plastic is bad for the environment, and I wish more private companies just did it, but the truth is that that’s not how it works, and we step in on almost every area … to set parameters that allow for safety and provide for our collective good. That’s what this does.”

At the request of Commissioner René García, Higgins amended the resolution to require Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s Office to deliver a report in one year on the measure’s impacts, including costs to businesses and the county.

According to the National Ocean Service, as much as 1.45 million metric tons of plastic entered coastal United States waters in 2016 alone.

Twelve states in the U.S., including California, New York and Hawaii, have passed bans on single-use plastic bags.

Conversely, Florida lawmakers in 2008 became the first in the nation to pass a law to prevent local governments from imposing regulations on plastic containers, wrappings and bags. In 2016, they approved a similar measure on Styrofoam products, though it does not apply to public property and vendors on public property.

Legislation that Orlando Democratic Sen. Linda Stewart filed this year to repeal the 2008 measure died without a hearing. A Republican-backed measure to expand the state’s existing preemptions on plastic food-related products gained more traction, but also failed to pass.

In the 2024 Session, however, state lawmakers overwhelmingly approved legislation reclassifying the intentional outdoor release of balloons as noncriminal littering, an offense that carries a $150-per-violation fine, after it received support from numerous environmental groups, the Florida Cattlemen’s Association and Florida Retail Federation (FRF). Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the measure in June.

A survey the Department of Environmental Protection conducted in 2021 found that 93% of residents are in favor of regulating single-use plastics. Eighty-two percent said they’d be willing to pay a small fee for the change.

The FRF, which represents CVS, Publix, Target, Walmart and other major retailers, has vehemently opposed local governments from passing limitations on plastics. Through threats of legal action, the group successfully pressured South Florida municipalities like Palm Beach and Surfside into repealing regulations. When Coral Gables refused to do the same for its ban on Styrofoam and single-use plastics, the FRF sued, and the city ultimately lost the battle in 2020 after the Florida Supreme Court decided against hearing the case.