What restaurants need to know about plastic use 

The Los Angeles City Council enacted a bill banning the use of plastic at all bars and restaurants in April 2021, and it became effective last November. By requiring restaurants to use eco-friendly reusables instead of single-use plastics, this restriction attempts to reduce pollution and waste from single-use plastic goods.

The law prohibits:

• Expanded polystyrene products like styrofoam cups, plates, and coolers

• Single-use plastic items like straws, containers, plates, bowls, cutlery, trays, and utensils

• Disposable food ware like napkins

Why does this matter? For dine-in or take-out clients, no longer will any dining establishment utilize disposable plasticware, unless specifically requested. Any restaurants or bars that break this rule are subject to fines of $100 per day, up to $1,000 annually.

Why implement legislation banning the use of plastics?

A crucial first step towards lowering plastic waste is banning waste made of plastic. For instance, plastic foodware and containers make up 23% of the trash dumped in landfills in the United States. In particular during the epidemic, when the number of take-out containers increased by about 30%, plastic pollution also finds its way into our oceans, coasts and roads.

In addition, bans on plastic have also been shown to be effective. According to studies, California has reduced its use of plastic bags by 70%, which in turn has resulted in a decrease in the use of straws, utensils, takeout containers, and bottles. We should take action to eliminate using single-use plastic because the United States produces the most plastic internationally.

Even though the ordinance only applies to some parts of LA, it's still a crucial step in encouraging the rest of the country to implement necessary change. For humanity and the entire planet, it is becoming more and more important to stem the flood of plastic garbage. The best part is that expanded polystyrene products, plastic bags, and places like California have already banned these items.

Single-use plastic item bans in the United States

The Jurisdiction of Sausalito adopted a ban on June 11, 2019, and is the second city after Los Angeles to do so. This restriction discourages the use of single-use plastic items like straws, containers, bags, cutlery, and more in restaurants and forbids their usage altogether.

In states without legislation, several local governments have adopted a plastic straw ban, including Miami Beach, Charleston, and numerous communities in California, Washington, D.C., and Florida. Moreover, in addition to Los Angeles, more than 100 other municipalities and localities have also prohibited expanded polystyrene, among them New York City, Seattle, Miami Beach, and San Diego.

The Campaign to Reduce Bag Waste: The Plastic Bag Ban

Currently, there is no federal legislation addressing plastic waste; it is up to states and cities to take the initiative. Eight states have banned single-use plastic bags including California, Delaware, Connecticut, Maine, Hawaii, Oregon, New York, and Vermont. Many believe that a plastic bag ban law is necessary in the face of the dangers posed to the environment by the ongoing waste of plastic bags. 

The United States produced almost 730,000 tons of plastic bags, sacks, and wraps in 2015, but more than 87% of those products are never recycled and end up as waste in our environment. Furthermore, it takes a plastic bag 1000 years to degrade; what's worse, throughout that time, they don't degrade entirely. They absorb toxins, photodegrade, and turn into microplastics, further damaging the environment. Additionally, plastic leachates from bags prevent Prochlorococcus, a marine bacterium that produces 10% of the world's oxygen, from growing.

Many people feel that a comprehensive ban on all plastics is necessary right away in order to prevent irreparable environmental harm and waste from occurring. These alarming figures support this view. As a result, some organizations have led the charge to convince Washington, D.C., to enact a full plastic ban. More than 600 groups and thousands of petition signers ask President Biden to enact a new federal law that will outlaw the use of single-use plastics in the Presidential Plastics Action Plan. One of the eight primary action items in the strategy is to suspend and deny any licenses or permits for new or enlarged plastic production facilities.

According to these petitioners, bag waste reduction is not just a lofty goal, but a biological imperative. As climate change becomes increasingly hard to ignore and the pandemic made many of us aware of the fragility of the world around us, it seems clear that environmentally-friendly green alternatives are a necessary approach. Plastic pollution must be addressed and replaced with compostable products. Plastic bans will likely spread throughout the United States, so restaurants should consider non-plastic food ware alternatives to stay prepared.

Alternatives to Banned Plastic

What alternatives to plastic can restaurants use if all plastic products wind up being banned? Implement a program that distributes and promotes paper carryout bags or reusable plastic bags in place of delivering meals in single-use plastic carryout bags. Try using bamboo, paper, stainless steel, or even pasta straws in place of plastic ones. Your eatery can employ chopsticks or bamboo utensils in place of plastic ones. Try to find products made from mostly or totally recycled or compostable paper when utilizing paper to replace plastics. Your adoption of eco-friendly alternatives will not only protect the environment from the damaging impacts of plastic trash, but it will also demonstrate to your customers that you genuinely care about this lovely, blue planet that we all share. 

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