Corte Madera officials have moved a step closer to adopting a reusable foodware ordinance.
The Corte Madera Town Council directed the municipal staff on Tuesday to develop a modified version of the county ordinance that was adopted last year. Marin cities and towns have been asked to approve ordinances modeled on the county regulations.
The county’s ordinance, which applies to unincorporated areas, takes effect Nov. 10. It requires reusable foodware such as plates, bowls and utensils for dine-in food service.
Town Council members originally said they sought to ensure that an ordinance would not overburden businesses following the pandemic. They acknowledged some of the unique concerns of business owners whose models sometimes relied on nonreusable foodware.
The town’s emerging ordinance will define what is compliant non-reusable foodware to include products certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute and other third-party compostable products. The foodware must be free of chemicals known as polyfluoroalkyl substances and cannot be based on fossil fuels.
The ordinance would not ensure that the products will be compostable because the county’s waste hauler does not compost these products. This provision responded to concerns of Amy’s Drive-Thru and other businesses that use such utensils for takeout dining.
The town also plans to remove requirements related to a 25-cent charge for nonreusable cups.
The town is considering delaying enforcement to allow time for compliance from businesses that do not currently use reusable foodware.
About 40 to 50 food vendors in the town would be covered by the ordinance, said Town Manager Adam Wolff.
“I think it’s really smart that Corte Madera is taking the time to pass something that’s actually enforceable,” said Councilmember Pat Ravasio.
The county ordinance applies to grocery store food counters, restaurants, delis, bakeries, farmers markets, food trucks, carry-out vendors and other food service providers in unincorporated Marin.
The ordinance includes items such as forks, spoons, knives, chopsticks, napkins, cup sleeves, food wrappers, beverage trays, condiment containers, toothpicks and straws. It mandates that these accessories be made available only upon request or at a self-serve takeout station. Plastic straws could be made available on request, but only to accommodate people with “access needs.”
The county has approved a list of temporarily exempt products because there are no natural fiber compostable alternatives on the market.
The Corte Madera Town Council considered three potential options at its meeting Tuesday.
One option was to follow state law and encourage education on the program without the adoption of an ordinance.
Another option was to adopt the county’s model reusable foodware ordinance and contract with Marin County Environmental Health Services to enforce it. The town would have been required to pay at least $6,000 to the county for enforcement.
The town opted to develop its own ordinance to reflect concerns from local businesses about the county model.
Damon Stainbrook, owner of Pig in a Pickle, said the county’s ordinance did not seem to be an effective way of reducing waste.
“This is a county issue with waste management. This is not my business issue,” he said.
The Town Council received a presentation on the county’s reusable foodware ordinance on Feb. 21. Town officials sent out mailers to local businesses and visited Corte Madera Town Center to review operations at fast-food restaurants.
“I think that gives us the most control and it gives us the ability to do what we think is best for our local businesses,” said Councilmember Fred Casissa. “We have a certain culture here and I think we need to keep that culture intact.”
AB 1276, a state law passed in 2021 that applies to all food service businesses, prohibits single-use foodware use and condiment packets unless requested by a customer and sets parameters on when a customer can ask for it.
Source: www.mercurynews.com