Waste Reduction
Non-Recyclable Food Service Container Ban
City of Santa Monica Ordinance
Topic Areas Addressed:
On January 9, 2007 the Santa Monica City Council unanimously voted to ban the use of non-recyclable plastic disposable food service containers within Santa Monica.
Expanded polystyrene and non-recyclable plastic together make up the largest amount of waste that ends up on Santa Monica’s beaches. This plastic waste causes significant environmental damage to the beach and marine environment. It can also harm marine animals and birds who mistake it for food. Polystyrene is made from crude oil and when improperly disposed persists in the environment for hundreds of years. By banning these types of disposable plastic food containers, the ordinance will help to reduce the amount of these materials that pollute Santa Monica’s beaches and the bay.
An education and outreach campaign was developed to educate the community, food vendors, distributors and manufacturers. Workshops, presentations and site visits were offered from July 2007 to June 2009 (see related documents). An office gallery of non-recyclable, compostable and recyclable products used by Santa Monica food vendors and other communities was created and maintained by a team of student interns, and available to the public at the Office of Sustainability and the Environment. Emphasis was placed on developing clear labeling of bio-plastics as “compostable” and the requirement that that these products meet compostability standards (ASTM D6400).
Over 600 food vendors and all City Facilities stopped using non recyclable food containers in the City of Santa Monica.
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Waste minimisation is the process and the policy of reducing the amount of waste produced by a person or a society. Waste minimisation involves efforts to minimise resource and energy use during manufacture. For the same commercial output, usually the fewer materials are used, the less waste is produced. Waste minimisation usually requires knowledge of the production process, cradle-to-grave analysis the tracking of materials from their extraction to their return to earth and detailed knowledge of the composition of the waste. The main sources of waste vary from country to country. In the UK, most waste comes from the construction and demolition of buildings, followed by mining and quarrying, industry and commerce. Household waste constitutes a relatively small proportion of all waste. Reasons for the creation of waste sometimes include requirements in the supply chain. For example, a company handling a product may insist that it should be packaged using particular packing because it fits its packaging equipment.
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