Manhattan Beach Bans Single-Use Plastic Straws, Utensils

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA – The Manhattan Beach City Council voted unanimously to prohibit the sale, distribution and use of single-use plastic straws, plastic stirrers, and plastic utensils within the city during the City Council meeting on June 5. The new ordinance updates the city's Municipal Code to prohibit single-use plastic straws, utensils, and stirrers, paired with an upon-request policy for non-plastic disposable items.

Only straws and utensils made from non-plastic materials, such as wood, metal, bamboo, fiber, glass are allowed, the City of Manhattan Beach press release said. Bioplastics, PLA plastics, and #7 plastics are banned. City Council also updated the polystyrene ordinance to ban polystyrene egg cartons and produce trays as well as polystyrene packing materials like foam peanuts.

There will be a grace period for local businesses to exhaust their existing supply of plastic and polystyrene packing materials and find alternatives by Jan. 1, 2019, the press release said.

“We have the opportunity to be environmental leaders and take action on addressing the plastic pollution problem, just as we did with plastic bags and polystyrene years ago” Mayor Amy Howorth said. “Manhattan Beach residents value clean neighborhoods, beaches, and healthy oceans. These are key reasons why we live here. Getting rid of single-use plastics makes sense and is the right thing to do for our coastal community. Plastic straws, stirrers, and utensils are now added to the list of plastic pollution that we will stop at the source so it doesn’t reach our beaches and the ocean. Our City leadership and community is committed to keeping our beaches clean and healthy for our families and future generations.”

Protecting the environment is part of Manhattan Beach’s core values. The ordinance is part of the City’s Plastic Free MB campaign to eliminate the use of a variety of single-use plastic items in order to protect our environment and the oceans, the press release said. However, plastic straws and utensils are used everywhere from cocktails to delivery food to unwanted glasses of water in restaurants. Collectively, Americans use roughly 500 million plastic straws daily – enough to fill 125 school buses each day and wrap around our entire planet 2.5 times, according to the city.

A list of alternatives and more information on plastic pollution is available via a guide on the City’s website at www.citymb.info/PlasticFreeMB.

Image via Shutterstock / Herlanzer Tenhue