Single-Use Plastics

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Cupertino's Single-Use Plastics Ordinance was approved by City Council on September 6, 2022. View the ordinance here or watch the council meeting here.

The City of Cupertino City Council approved the ordinance in order to reduce the unnecessary use of single-use disposable plastic food service ware (such as cups, utensils, and containers) by restaurants and other food facilities.

Why is it important?

Plastic is causing a lot of concern because:

  • Plastics and microplastics are now found in the ocean, air, soil, and animals (including humans).
  • Food packaging is often littered, and plastic litter does not biodegrade, it just

Cupertino's Single-Use Plastics Ordinance was approved by City Council on September 6, 2022. View the ordinance here or watch the council meeting here.

The City of Cupertino City Council approved the ordinance in order to reduce the unnecessary use of single-use disposable plastic food service ware (such as cups, utensils, and containers) by restaurants and other food facilities.

Why is it important?

Plastic is causing a lot of concern because:

  • Plastics and microplastics are now found in the ocean, air, soil, and animals (including humans).
  • Food packaging is often littered, and plastic litter does not biodegrade, it just breaks into smaller and smaller pieces.
  • Plastics can leach harmful chemicals into food and beverages.
  • Plastics can be difficult to recycle. When they are recycled it is often into new products such as fleece or composite wood replacements that cannot themselves be recycled (downcycling).
  • Plastic foodware is often used for just a few minutes and then goes to landfill.
  • Plastics production can be bad for air and water near factories which can have an effect on human health.

Many plastic products are important and even life-saving, but humans can reduce or eliminate many single-use plastics without impacting their quality of life.

What can a Single-Use Plastics Foodware Ordinance do?

An ordinance could phase in a variety of requirements for food businesses to reduce the use of single-use plastic and encourage more reusable foodware, such as:

  • Require that prepared takeout food be served using compostable fiber-based cups, containers, utensils, and other accessories
  • Require reusable foodware for dining in.
  • Ban local use and sale of compostable plastic cups and containers.

More information on the proposed ordinance can be found below. City Council will be considering these ideas at a special study session on March 1, 2022 and the public is welcome to attend and share thoughts during public comment opportunities.



How can you get involved ?

Participation for developing the ordinance has now closed. Please help us implement these waste reduction practices by reporting businesses that are not complying with the new regulations.

  • CLOSED: This survey has concluded.

    Customers

    If you visit restaurants, cafes, tea shops, or other food service places in Cupertino, your feedback is valuable in shaping the future of single-use plastics. 

    Please anticipate 5 minutes to complete the survey. 


    Para solicitar una copia de esta encuesta en español, envíe un correo electrónico a environmental@cupertino.org. 


    要索取本調查的西班牙語副本，請發送電子郵件至 environmental@cupertino.org。

    This survey has closed
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  • CLOSED: This survey has concluded.

    Food Service Business Owners and Managers

    To fill out the survey in English, please click the below link or copy and paste the link into your browser:

    https://forms.gle/Cu8QnG2RvZZvkeYN7

    要以中文填寫調查問卷，請點擊以下鏈接或將鏈接複製並粘貼到您的瀏覽器中。

    https://forms.gle/QiBXy2CSeBu3SaXaA

    Para completar la encuesta en español, haga clic en el enlace o copie y pegue el enlace en su navegador:

    https://forms.gle/CXYJixdbAcG82B4a7

    Thank you so much for your help! Your answers will help us understand the needs of our business community before a new local ordinance is proposed.

    This survey has closed
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Page last updated: 09 Nov 2023, 06:49 PM