Businesses

Restaurants: Accepted Food Service Ware

Summary of the City of Oakland’s or State of California food service ware requirements:

• Accessories upon request (including in-person take-out as well as app based food delivery)
• BPI certified compostable fiber will be the only compliant acceptable single-use food service ware items (except paper or aluminum wrappers)
• Item must be accepted by compost and recycling franchised haulers
• Must be free of PFAS and any other known toxins
• Vendors may allow patrons to bring reusables and they have the choice to fill or not based on the cleanliness and completeness of the patron container

The goal is to move toward all reusables not just to replace plastics with compostables – so start looking for reusable options.

The StopWaste ReThink Disposable team is available to meet with you on-site to assess your current use of disposable food service ware, discuss reusable alternatives and recommend waste-reducing practices. 

Reusable food ware providers & TA & Tools:

• StopWaste list of reusable foodware vendors
• StopWaste guide to purchasing compostable food service ware
• Disptach Goods – Dispatch Goods ~ Sustainability Delivered.
• Sparkl Reusables – Sparkl Reusables * (sparklsfbay.com)
• Vessel Works – VESSEL (vesselworks.org)
• SudBusters
• Muuse – Muuse
• ClubZero – CLUBZERO | Join the heros of zero
• Dish Joy – Dishjoy – Clean Dishes Delivered Daily | Dishjoy
• Rcup – Home – r.Cup (rcup.com)
• ReThink Disposable – Home | ReThink Disposable
• Plate Scrape – Introducing PLATESCRAPE

Single-use food service ware options:

• CEH database of tested foodware with scores: CEH Single-Use Foodware Public Database 6-23-2021 – Google Sheets
• Additional database of acceptable single-use food service ware: Airtable – Grid view
• BPI search for certified products – Biodegradable Products Institute – Certified Compostable (bpiworld.org)
• CMA (alternative 3rd party certification) – CMA-I List | Commercially Accepted Items | Compost Manufacturing Alliance – Compost Manufacturing Alliance

Common contaminants and solutions

It is often impossible to tell the difference between a clear plastic cup and a clear plastic compostable cup. Therefore, compostable plastics can easily end up in the trash and regular plastics can easily end up in the compost. Plastics and compostables plastics are both unwanted feedstocks for nutrient rich compost. In CA, through State SB-1383, jurisdictions will be required to purchase and apply compost to any available land they have in an effort to sequester carbon. So, that compost needs to be free of plastics and should be as nutrient rich as possible to have the most environmental benefit.

In an effort to reduce consumer confusion about compostable plastics and to reduce contamination in both the compost and recycling streams, the City will mandate the use of BPI certified compostable fiber (not plastic) as the only acceptable single-use food service ware items. This is only a bridge to require mandatory reusables once more vendors become available and able to compete in the market.

Furthermore, when food is left inside plastic clamshell to go containers the containers are nearly impossible to recycle and if that material goes to the landfill, it is not only a lost opportunity to recycle the plastic container but, it causes added environmental harm because food that breaks down in the landfill causes harmful greenhouse gas emissions from methane. By phasing out all plastic containers we can avoid this problem completely because consumers do not need to remove food from BPI certified compostable fiber containers before throwing them in the compost.