Reducing Waste from Single-use Foodware Accessories & Condiments

Existing law prohibits restaurants from providing single-use plastic straws to customers unless requested.

As of January 1, 2022, in order to reduce the amount of waste created from single-use items food facilities will also need customers to request any single-use foodware accessory or standard condiment. 

Single-use foodware accessories include forks, knives, spoons, sporks, chopsticks, straws, stirrers, condiment cups and packets, splash sticks, or cocktail sticks.

“Standard condiment” means relishes, spices, sauces, confections, or seasonings that require no additional preparation and that are usually used on a food item after preparation, including ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, soy sauce, hot sauce, salsa, salt, pepper, sugar, and sugar substitutes.

In order to reduce the amount of waste created from single-use items the retail food industry is now required to: 

1. Only provide single-use accessories to consumers upon request 
2. Only provide single-use accessories required to eat the ready-to-eat food 
3. No bundling of single-use accessories or condiments 
4. Only offer those single-use items needed to eat or prevent spillage of the ready-to-eat food at a drive-through as well as in a public-use airport 
5. A third-party delivery platform shall provide consumers with the option to request single-use accessories 
6. A food facility that uses a third-party platform shall customize its menu with a list of available single-use accessories or condiments. Only those items chosen by the consumer will be delivered. If no single-use accessories or condiments are requested none will be provided 
7. Unwrapped single-use foodware accessories that are self-serve, standard condiments that are self-serve, and/or bulk dispensed condiments may still be used

The bill doesn't include public and private school cafeterias, health care facilities, residential care facilities, and correctional institutions.

In Danville, the bill will be enforced by the Town's Code Enforcement Officer beginning June 1, 2022. The first and 2nd violations of these provisions would result in a notice of violation, and any subsequent violation would receive a fine of $25 for each day in violation, but not to exceed an annual total of $300.