LA County Bans Single-Use Plastic, Starting From May 2023

Chris Bolt | 2022-05-17 | Category : Climate Change | 2 minutes read | 32 views

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LA County has introduced a law that will make it illegal for all of the catering and hospitality industry to use single-use plastic containers. This will broadly apply to restaurants, cafeterias, and even food trucks.

There is a lead time for the rules to take effect, but from May 1, 2023, any single-use item that they hand out has to be fully compostable or recyclable.

That means that tons of plastic that can only go to a landfill will be taken out of the economy.

A TreeHugger report has detailed some interesting information about this new law.

In the U.S. an estimated 23% of waste in landfill is made up of containers and packaging, much of which was used for food. Packaging also comprises the majority of trash found along beaches and coastlines. The problem has worsened since the start of the pandemic, with the use of takeout food containers growing by 250-300%.

While some people in the food industry are complaining about the cost to the economy, it’s clear that they are only looking at increased costs for themselves.

Taking that much harmful plastic out of the environment comes with huge benefits to both nature and human health that is worth more than the extra cost of getting rid of the most harmful plastic.

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Chris Bolt

Chris is one of GreenCitizen’s writers who has been a long-time advocate of individual responsibility when it comes to the environment. He shares GreenCitizen's passion for making the world a better place every day of the year.