Berkeley passes disposable foodware ordinance

The Berkeley City Council, Berkeley, California, passed a disposable foodware and litter-reduction ordinance at its meeting Tuesday, Jan. 22. Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin tweeted on Jan. 22 that this is the “most ambitious groundbreaking policy to reduce throw-away foodware in the nation.”

According to the Berkeley City Council agenda, the legislation was proposed by City Councilmember Sophie Hahn and Arreguin. During the meeting, Hahn noted the importance of making a dramatic change in the products and packaging in order to reduce the amount of plastics in the ocean.

Through the new bill, Berkeley consumers will have to either bring their own cup when getting a drink to go or pay 25 cents for a disposable cup. Also, the legislation will require Berkeley restaurants to switch to compostable takeout packaging. In three years, the city hopes to launch a program that would allow residents to borrow reusable takeout containers, as well. 

Hahn and Arreguin proposed the ordinance in the spring of 2018. 

“Single-use disposable foodware is a local and global problem, one with enormous financial and environmental costs,” Hahn said in an April 2018 news release from the Berkeley Ecology Center on the proposed ordinance. “As a city striving toward zero waste, we do a good job with composting and recycling, but it is not enough. We need to start reducing our waste as well.”