Berkeley Approves Restrictions on Disposable Foodware at Eateries

Updated Thursday Jan. 24, 10 a.m.

The Berkeley City Council unanimously approved an ordinance Tuesday night that will require restaurants and cafes to use to-go foodware that's compostable beginning next year — and by mid-2020 to provide only reusable dishes and utensils for patrons dining in.

The ordinance will also require customers to pay a 25-cent fee, starting Jan. 1, 2020, for disposable cups, a fee that can be bypassed if customers bring in their own.

Sophie Hahn, the Berkeley City Council member behind what's being called the most ambitious legislation in the country aimed at reducing throwaway food containers and utensils, called the ordinance both environmentally and fiscally sound.

"There's a lot of costs that go into creating, consuming and then dealing with the waste associated with single-use disposable foodware — that is throwaway foodware — and their cost is not just to our environment but also to our cities and municipalities," Hahn said. "We spend a lot of money dealing with this littering garbage, and it's time for us to turn that around, both for the environment, for our cities and for our citizens."

Hahn said other local governments have shown an interest in replicating the legislation.

"Even during the time that we were developing this policy, we were already getting calls from people in other cities ... from Sierra Clubs ... and now that it's passed, I expect that we'll be getting a lot more," Hahn said.

Government officials in San Mateo County, Richmond and Piedmont have reached out to Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín’s office, expressing interest in pursuing similar laws, according to Karina Ioffee, a spokeswoman for Arreguín.

Stuart Baker, executive director of the Telegraph Business Improvement District, said in a written statement he appreciated that business interest concerns were incorporated into the ordinance in the year it was developed. Baker said the district would work to make the initiative successful.

But one concern was the timing of the passage of the legislation, which comes after an October increase in the Berkeley minimum wage to $15 per hour.

“Coming right on the heels of a big minimum wage increase, it is a challenge for many merchants to deal with an expense that may also force them to raise prices,” Baker said. “Telegraph [Avenue] caters to cost-conscious students, a group often most sensitive to price increases — when food is less expensive to begin with, the increase seem bigger as a percentage of the cost.”

The ordinance calls for city officials to help local businesses abide by the new rules.

Supporters say the ordinance is backed by a coalition of more than 1,400 local, national and international organizations participating in the global Break Free From Plastic Movement, including UpStream, The Story of Stuff Project, the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, the Plastic Pollution Coalition and the Surfrider Foundation.

CALPIRG Students, an advocacy group at the University of California, said it worked to get the ordinance passed.

"We are proud that the City of Berkeley continues to lead the way in waste reduction policy and look forward to continuing to push the envelope on this important issue," says Nicole Haynes, the campaign coordinator for CALPIRG's Plastic Free campaign, in a statement. "Nothing we use for five minutes should pollute our oceans for hundreds of years."

Bay City News contributed to this post.