San Francisco Plastic Reduction Ordinance

In a momentous victory, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed the Plastic, Toxics and Litter Reduction Ordinance on July 31, 2018.

After three years of groundwork by the Surfrider Foundation San Francisco Chapter and allies to raise awareness and build a movement to reduce the use of single-use plastic straws, San Francisco has adopted an ordinance that will ban the sale and distribution of single-use plastic and bio-plastic straws, utensils, stirrers and similar items, in addition to foodware containers that contain fluorinated chemicals. The ordinance further requires that all single-use foodware and accessories must be compostable (accepted by the city’s composting program) or recyclable. 

Single-use plastic and bio-plastic straws have proven to be problematic forms of litter, especially in marine environments, as they do not break down.  San Francisco is the second biggest city behind Seattle to pass significant policy that limits single-use plastic straws and continues to show leadership in the country for how local governments can prevent plastic pollution in our ocean.  Most notably, this ordinance is comprehensive and addresses all single-use foodware items by requiring that they be compostable.  This will make a significant impact on local San Francisco beaches and also serves as a model for how other cities can be proactive in addressing the plastic pollution crisis.

Key partners in making the victory happen include the San Francisco Department of the Environment as well as other advocacy organization partners including UPSTREAM, Plastic Pollution Coalition, The Lonely Whale, and the Break Free From Plastic movement.

Surfrider blog post about the victory here

SF Chronicle story about the ordinance