Plate lunches are popular in Hawaii but lawmakers are now considering a bill to ban take-out containers made of polystyrene foam, commonly known as styrofoam.

Supporters of the measure cite environmental and health concerns.

The Senate Energy and Environment Committee will vote on the bill on Tuesday afternoon.

Kakaako Kitchen is known for its gourmet plate lunches. Each meal comes in a styrofoam container. The restaurant uses an estimated 1,500 containers each day.

"We've looked at the biodegradable and the recycled containers. It's almost double or triple the cost of the styrofoam and what we had found is that a lot of them leak, and if they're holding like our beef stew or some other saucey items, it doesn't hold up," explained executive chef Marcia Cades.

But now the petroleum-based product is under fire.

A bill to ban the containers would affect restaurants and lunch wagons as well as non-profit and government agencies.

"They don't decompose or biodegrade which means that the throwing away of these containers and products have caused a significant littering problem, they've filled up our landfills," said Sen. Ron Menor, chair of the Energy and Environment Committee.

The Kulia Grill at the University of Hawaii's medical school is starting to use biodegradable containers and utensils.

A new local business called Styrophobia sells the products made from corn starch and sugar cane fiber called bagasse.

Company officials said a take-out container that costs 12 to 15 cents in styrofoam would cost 22 to 25 cents in bagasse, which biodegrades in one to three months.

"Really, the end is very expensive: the beach cleanups, the landfill, we're having all these landfill issues, so really, what's 10 cents in the beginning cause we are paying our taxes for the cleanup end," said Krista Ruchaber, managing director of Styrophobia.

"(I) totally understand the environmental concerns with the styrofoam, and we are as a company looking into other options like some of our other products like the take-out bags, some of our cups, our silverware, things that we use, we're trying to get those products to be biodegradable or recycled," Cades said.

The bill includes fines and also requires the Hawaii Health Department to find alternatives to styrofoam.

Health officials said they support the idea but they are not backing the measure due to concerns about funding and enforcement.

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