The city of Los Angeles prohibits restaurants from handing out plastic utensils and foodware unless customers request them. (photo by Brynn Mechem)

Restaurants in Los Angeles with more than 26 employees are no longer allowed to offer plastic foodware to customers unless they request it under an ordinance that took effect on Nov. 15.

The new law pertains to plastic utensils, cups, trays and containers, as well as napkins and condiment packages. The law will extend to all restaurants on April 22, 2022.

The law is the latest step being taken by the city of Los Angeles to reduce the amount of plastic waste being generated and ending up in landfills. Beverly Hills approved similar regulations on plastic foodware unless requested on Oct. 12, and the ordinance takes effect on Nov. 27. West Hollywood laid the groundwork for passing a citywide ban on plastic foodware unless requested on Oct. 4, when it asked staff to prepare an ordinance to be formally considered in January.

The Los Angeles ordinance was based on a motion authored by Councilman Paul Koretz, 5th District, and Paul Krekorian, 2nd District, who said billions of unused foodware accessories including utensils, straws and condiment packets are discarded annually. With restaurants still being allowed to provide plastic foodware to customers if they ask for them, the councilmen said the ordinance will protect the environment while causing little disruption to business.

“If we are to overcome the extreme climate challenges we face, we will have to alter or otherwise transform all our habits relating to fossil fuel products, including plastics, and our essential natural resources, like forests,” Koretz said. “Skipping the stuff to stop the frivolous waste of napkins and plasticware is another step forward as we work together towards a healthier future that can sustain us all.”

“Larger restaurants in Los Angeles are now officially partners in the effort to address the environmental catastrophe caused by the disposal of millions of pounds of plastic waste along our beautiful California coastline,” Krekorian added. “Their compliance is critical as we aggressively counter what has been a major contribution to the climate crisis, the distribution of unneeded and unwanted plastic goods to consumers. These goods are also sustaining the fading fossil fuel industry, which is a major contributor to climate change.”

Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, 13th District, spearheaded earlier efforts to ban plastic straws from being provided by restaurants unless by request. That ordinance took effect on Oct. 1, 2019.

“This is another critical step forward for our movement to phase out single-use plastics, and an extension of the straws-on-request ordinance we enacted in 2019,” said O’Farrell, chairman of the council’s Energy, Climate Change, Environmental Justice and Los Angeles River Committee. “This ordinance helps both the environment and our economy. By focusing on education and changing people’s behavior, we can achieve sustainable success in the long run. We’re also helping small businesses, who spend billions of dollars a year on disposable products.”

O’Farrell’s spokesman Dan Halden said violations of the ordinance will be addressed as administrative infractions, rather than criminal citations. The L.A. Sanitation department will launch an educational campaign this fall to work with restaurants on compliance. The department will begin complaint-based enforcement on May 15, 2022.

Restaurants found to be in violation will receive written warnings for the first two offenses, and a $25 fine for a third offense and each subsequent violation.

Halden said most restaurants voluntarily complied with the plastic straws ordinance, and officials expect that will be the case with new plastic foodware regulations.

Restaurants are encouraged to use biodegradable food containers and other alternatives to plastic. When the plastic straws only by request ordinance went into effect, many restaurants switched to offering paper straws.

The L.A. Sanitation department has created a hotline for people to report violations of the ordinance at (800)773-2489, or they can email srcrd@lacity.org.