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Regulating Single-Use Plastic and Expanded Polystyrene

 

Ordinance Basics Compliance Exemptions Business Resources
Purpose Single-use Articles Exempted Scenarios Compliant Product Suppliers
Key Provisions Permitted Materials Waiver Application Early Adopter Program
Impacted Businesses Prohibited Materials   Additional Resources
Commission Meetings     Frequently Asked Questions 

 

ORDINANCE BASICS

 

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE ORDINANCE? 

Single-use plastic foodware and expanded polystyrene (e.g., Styrofoam) products comprise a significant proportion of the City's waste production, dominating our landfills. Such items also pollute our streets, critical waterways, and local ecosystems, breaking down into hazardous microplastics that accumulate in perpetuity. Additionally, producing conventional plastics and expanded polystyrene depends on extracting and processing fossil fuels, resulting in significant greenhouse gas emissions. 

The ordinance intends to curtail these environmental and human health impacts by reducing the distribution and disposal of single-use plastic and expanded polystyrene items.

 

City Council adopted the ordinance on March 18, 2024

Public Works hosted a virtual workshop on February 26, 2024, and introduced the ordinance to the City Council during its March 11, 2024, study session

 

Access the City's draft ordinance here

View our business fact sheet for an ordinance overview (also available in Spanish)

 

WHAT ARE THE KEY PROVISIONS?
  1. Food facilities cannot provide single-use articles to customers with ready-to-eat food, including cutlery, straws, and containers, unless they are compostable or recyclable. This requirement also applies to food trays and egg cartons.
  2. Retail establishments cannot sell, rent, or offer expanded polystyrene products to customers.
  3. Third-party online food ordering businesses must allow food facilities to indicate which single-use foodware accessories they offer and allow customers to select which accessories, if any, will be included with their order.
  4. Full-service restaurants may only provide multiservice utensils to customers for consumption on the premises.

 

WHO IS IMPACTED?

Food Facility 

 - any operation that provides food for human consumption at the retail level and operates within the City or a City facility

Category 1

Comply by March 18, 2025 

Category 2

Comply by Sept. 18, 2025

Category 3

Comply by March 18, 2026

  • Full-service restaurants 
  • Fast food restaurants 
  • Cafés & coffee shops 
  • Supermarkets & grocery stores 
  • Snack bars & juice bars 
  • Convenience stores 
  • Pharmacies
  • Hotels  
  • School cafeterias 
  • City facilities
  • Health facilities

Mobile food facilities

 

  • Temporary food facilities 
  • Farmers markets 
  • Catering operations 

 

Third-party online food ordering business - a service that operates an online platform for customers to order ready-to-eat food that is prepared or sold by food facilities 

Full-service restaurant - a food facility where food may be consumed on the premises, meaning a customer is directed to an assigned seating area and, except for items included in a buffet or salad bar, food and beverage orders are delivered directly to the customers 

Retail establishment - any commercial establishment located within the City that sells goods directly to customers primarily for their own consumption or use 

 

COMMISSION MEETINGS

All relevant Public Works Commission meeting agendas and recordings are available below:

January 25th, City Council Liaison / Public Works Commission Committee Meeting

November 9th, 2023, Public Work Commission Meeting

October 12th, 2023, Public Works Commission Meeting

 

 


 

COMPLIANCE

 

WHAT IS A SINGLE-USE ARTICLE? 

single-use article is any disposable foodware item used to serve, consume, transport, or contain food and beverages. This term includes plates, bowls, clamshells, pizza boxes, cups, trays, egg cartons, and wrappers, among other items. It also includes single-use foodware accessories provided alongside ready-to-eat food, such as forks, knives, spoons, chopsticks, straws, stirrers, spill plugs, hot beverage sleeves, cup lids, napkins, and condiment containers.

In contrast, multiservice utensils are foodware items designed to be cleaned and reused and are only required for full-service restaurants.  

 

WHAT MATERIALS DOES THE ORDINANCE ALLOW? 

The ordinance only permits compostable and recyclable single-use articles, as accepted by the City's waste hauler, and prohibits the sale of all expanded polystyrene products. 

Compostable item will promptly and safely break down into non-toxic organic matter (compost), and conforms to the following requirements: 

  1. Must be free of all fluorinated chemicals, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs)
  2. Must satisfy one or more of the following criteria: 
    • Is home compostable, meaning it will biodegrade at moderate temperatures in a composting bin designed for home use
    • Is composed of 100% fiber-based material free of non-fiber coatings and additives 
    • If home compostable or fiber-based items are not feasible, then it must be certified compostable by both the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPIAND the Compost Manufacturing Alliance (CMA)
  3. Does NOT include bioplastic cups, containers, foodware accessories, coatings, or additives 
    • Although some bioplastic items are certified as industrially compostable, they are not considered compostable in Beverly Hills because the City's waste hauler cannot process these materials.
Compliant Single-useExample compostable items

Recyclable items can be diverted from landfills and then feasibly salvaged, processed, and returned to use by society, with the following criteria: 

  1. Plastic and expanded polystyrene single-use articles are NOT considered recyclable.
  2. Aluminum, unlined paper, glass, and beverage containers with a CRV value are recyclable.

 

Download and view our list of Compliant Single-use Articles to help transition your foodware.

This list is only intended to provide initial guidance and is not representative of all compliant products. The Department of Public Works will continue to update the list.

Prices and links are subject to change. See the last column for the date each product was updated.

 

WHAT MATERIALS DOES THE ORDINANCE PROHIBIT? 

 Prohibited items are non-compostable and non-recyclable. These include:

  • All plastics 
    • Includes both petroleum-based plastics (resin codes #1-7) and bioplastics (plant-based plastics often marked with resin code #7, including polylactic acid (PLA))
  • Expanded polystyrene products
    • Includes items made primarily from a petroleum-based foam colloquially known as Styrofoam and often marked with resin code #6, such as coolers, ice chests, single-use articles, pool/beach toys, and packing materials
  • Items with plastic, bioplastic, or wax coatings
    • Paper and aluminum with these liners can no longer be recycled due to the presence of non-recyclable additives and will end up in the landfill

 Prohibited Single-use Articles - pink backgroundExample prohibited items


 

EXEMPTIONS

 

WHAT SCENARIOS ARE EXEMPTED? 

The prohibition of non-compostable and non-recyclable single-use articles does not apply to single-use articles that are: 

  • Included with ready-to-eat food that is pre-packaged at a location outside of the premises of the food facility 
  • Provided in response to an emergency that is declared or ratified by the City, County, State, or federal government 
  • Provided by health facilities to patients with ready-to-eat food during the course of treatment 
  • Provided as reasonable accommodations to persons with disabilities who request them

The ordinance also does not cover beverage containers subject to the California Redemption Value (CRV), expanded polystyrene-based products encased in a more durable material, or products pre-packaged outside the City using expanded polystyrene as part of the packaging material. 

Additionally, full-service restaurants may provide single-use foil wrappers, napkins, straws, and placemats to dine-in customers so long as they are compostable or recyclable. To-go accommodations from full-service restaurants must also adhere to single-use article requirements.

 

CAN I APPLY FOR A WAIVER OR EXTENSION? 

If complying with the ordinance will constitute an undue hardship for your business, you may apply to the Director of Public Works to waive the requirements for up to one year while you work to achieve compliance. Instances of undue hardship include a lack of dishwashing capacity for dine-in reusables, extraordinary financial strain, purchases of non-compliant products before receiving notice of the ordinance, or specific food-service applications for which no compliant articles can be feasibly used.

Access and submit the application here: Waiver Application

 

 


 

BUSINESS RESOURCES

 

Compliant Product Suppliers

Download and view our list of Compliant Single-use Articles to help transition your foodware.

In addition to viewing our list of compliant products, you can visit the following sources to find additional items. Please note that these vendors also sell non-compliant single-use articles.

These lists are only intended to provide initial guidance and are not representative of all compliant products or suppliers.

brands:     other suppliers:
Aardvark Ecovita OkStraw Going Green Services
AJM Packaging Fineline Packnwood Good Start Packaging
Bambu Greenlid Primeware Green Paper Products
Birchware Holy City Straw Responsible Products LetsGoGreen.biz
Eco-Choice Karat Earth Stalk Market LollicupStore
Eco-gecko Leafware Tellus MrTakeoutBags
Eco-Products Matter VerTerra Restaurantware
EcoSmart Naeco World Centric United Sustainability Supply House
    YesStraws  Webstaurant

 

EARLY ADOPTER PROGRAM

The City seeks to collaborate with businesses to educate them about new requirements and facilitate this transition. As such, it is administering an Early Adopter Program to encourage compliance with the ordinance before it goes into full effect. The Program focuses on small food facilities, providing qualifying businesses with a one-month supply of compliant single-use articles, including containers, cutlery, and straws.

A qualified business must meet the qualified criteria;

  1. Is a brick-and-mortar food facility in the City
  2. Has fewer than 26 employees
  3. Has fewer than 20 tables for dine-in service
  4. Is currently using plastic or expanded polystyrene single-use articles for food service
  5. Can demonstrate financial hardship incurred from complying with the ordinance
  6. Is in good standing with the City, meaning it has paid business license fees and does not have any local or state environmental violations
  7. Commits to signing up for the Green Business Program

Access and submit the application here: Early Adopter Program Application

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION & Resources

The following sites provide guidance and educational materials for plastic-free businesses:

Early Adopter Program Application

Frequently Asked Questions

Upcoming Public Workshops
  • City of Beverly Hills Shield
  • City of Beverly Hills
  • 455 North Rexford Dr
    Beverly Hills, CA 90210
  •  
  • (310) 285-1000
  • Monday-Thursday 7:30AM-5:30PM
  • Friday 8:00AM-5:00PM

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