The Sebastopol City Council has adopted a new Polystyrene Ordinance which will prohibit the use and sale of disposable food service ware and other products containing polystyrene foam.
 
The current polystyrene ordinance, effective until November 19, 2019,  applies only to City premises. The new ordinance will take effect on November 19, 2019 and will supersede the previous ordinance.
 
This “model ordinance” developed by the Sonoma County Waste Management Agency, which was unanimously at the March 19 City Council meeting. is planned for similar adoptive actions by the other eight cities and the county fairly soon.
 
When the ordinance comes into effect, food merchants will only provide customers with single use items, such as provide lids, cutlery, to-go condiment packages and paper straws, by request only. As for retailers, they will no longer be allowed to sell products made out of polystyrene foam such as, ice chests or polystyrene water toys.

While it is not required, food retailers are encouraged to give up to a 25-cent credit to customers bringing their own reusable containers and they may also choose to charge up to 10 cents as a “take out fee” for disposable commodities.

Enforcement:  After a written warning, non-compliant businesses may be subject to fines not to exceed $100 for the first violation, up to $500 for the third violation. Fines for vendors or special event promoters who violate the ordinance with commercial or noncommercial special events range from not to exceed $200 for events of 100 to 200 people, up to $1,000 for events of 601 people or more.

For questions on the ordinance, please contact the City of Sebastopol Engineering Manager Henry Mikus at hmikus@cityofsebastopol.org or (707) 823-2151.