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Government » Departments » Office of the City Manager » Office of Sustainability

As Glendale emerges from the pandemic, the community has an opportunity to return to normalcy in a more sustainable fashion.  To do so, the City adopted an ordinance that would require food and beverage providers located within the City of Glendale – including restaurants, bars, and convenience stores – to have customers ask for accessory foodware items, such as spoons, forks, knives, napkins, straws, and other items, before receiving them. The ordinance applies to third party delivery services, online orders, as well as dine-in, drive through, and take out customers.

The ordinance requires that food and beverage facilities:

Ordinance No. 5973 of the City of Glendale, adding Chapter 8.46 to Title 8 of the GMC in connection with regulations for the distribution of disposable food ware accessories can be viewed here.

For any questions regarding the ordinance please contact the Office of Sustainability at 818-548-4844 or email Sustainability@Glendaleca.gov.

By regulating the distribution of these items, we can reduce costs to businesses, reduce the amount of plastic in the waste stream, and reduce litter in our community. To stay informed about the proposed ordinance, visit glendaleca.gov/foodware.

Armenian and Spanish Flyers available.

A non-profit that subsidizes the purchase of reusable food and drinkware for restaurants, schools, and more. 

A program of the Clean Water Action and Clean Water Fund with the aim to prevent waste before it starts. They provide technical assistance to help food business operators reduce waste and cut costs by minimizing disposable packaging items. They also offer rebates for qualifying business towards the purchase of reusable food service ware.

Under this Ordinance, food or beverage facilities can provide disposable foodware accessories to a dine-in or take-out customer ONLY if the customer requests one. Food or beverage facilities may not automatically provide a disposable foodware accessories to drive-through or delivery customers, but may ask those customers if they want one.

Food or beverage facilities that use Online Food Ordering Platforms are required to provide options on the Online Ordering Platform that enable customers to choose which Disposable Foodware Accessories to include with each Online Order.

Prepared Food Facilities that use Online Food Ordering Platforms must provide an option or method for posting a customized lists of Disposable Foodware Accessories single use deliver offered on their Platform.

Include on Online Food Ordering Platforms an “opt-in” function for a Customer placing an Online Order to request available Disposable Foodware Accessories as part of the Customers Online Order. And not provide Disposable Foodware Accessories where “opt-in” function is not selected.

The Disposable Foodware Accessories Ordinance applies to food or beverage facilities located in the City of Glendale, which sell or provide prepared food or beverages that require no further preparation by a customer before consumption.

These food or beverage facilities means a facility located in the City that sells or otherwise provides Prepared Food or Beverages for consumption on or off its premises, and includes, but is not limited to, a shop, sales outlet, restaurant, bar, pub, coffee shop, coffee stand, juice and/or smoothie bar, cafeteria, caterer, convenience store, liquor store, grocery store, supermarket, delicatessen, farmers market, theater, mobile food truck, roadside stand, kiosks, carts, or a Vendor or any organization, group, or individual that regularly provides Prepared Food or Beverages as part of its service 

The Ordinance also applies to food or beverage facilities with an online ordering platform, or using a Third-party Food Delivery Services with an Online Ordering Platform, and Third-party Food Delivery Services with an Online Ordering platform, which operate in the City of Los Angeles.

Under this Ordinance, any food or beverage facility customer may request disposable foodware accessories, for any reason.

Each food or beverage facility will be required to display an advisory notice informing customers about the Disposable Foodware Accessories Ordinance. City of Glendale has provided mailers that can serve as customer advisory notices, or food/beverage facilities can use their own.

This information must also be posted on online ordering platforms.

A sample advisory notice will soon be posted to City of Glendale Sustainability Website Foodware page https://www.glendaleca.gov/government/departments/office-of-the-city-manager/office-of-sustainability/foodware. 

The Ordinance became effective for food or beverage facilities, in Glendale that have more than 26 employees, on February 18, 2022. (The “more than 26 employees” threshold applies to food or beverage facilities that are part of a chain of franchised or corporate- owned food or beverage vendors located in Los Angeles and in more than one jurisdiction outside of Los Angeles).

All other food or beverage facilities must comply with the requirements of the Ordinance by March 20, 2022.

Enforcement is complaint driven. City of Glendale will investigate when it receives complaints that a food/beverage facility is not complying with the Ordinance. City of Glendale will issue written notices of compliance to the operator of a food or beverage facility if a violation is found to have taken place. The penalty structure is as follows:

An administrative fine shall be due and payable to the city within thirty (30) calendar days from the date the written notice of violation is served.

An Operator who receives a written notice of violation pursuant to this Chapter may request an administrative enforcement hearing pursuant to the procedures set forth in GMC section 1.24.110 (Administrative enforcement and appeal hearings).

More information regarding enforcement of the Disposable Foodware Accessories Ordinance can be found in Sec. 8.46.060. of the Ordinance here.

This Ordinance covers disposable foodware including, but not limited to: means any type of Disposable item that accompanies a Prepared Food or Beverage served in Disposable plates, containers, or cups. A Disposable item includes, but is not limited to, Utensils, Condiment Packets, Disposable Plastic Drinking Straws and all other Disposable straws, stirrers, splash sticks, cocktail sticks, toothpicks, napkins, wet-wipes, cup lids, cup sleeves, and beverage trays.

No. Food or beverages that are provided by a manufacturer with an already- attached/included disposable foodware accessories are not covered under this Ordinance.

Yes. If your business sells or provides prepared food or beverages, which require no additional preparation to be consumed by a consumer, you are subject to the requirements of this Ordinance.

Once the Ordinance becomes effective for your food or beverage facility, you may not have disposable foodware accessories that are available for customer self- service.

If you were provided disposable foodware accessories with a dine-in, take-out, drive-through, or delivery meal, without requesting one, you may report this violation to City of Glendale Sustainability Office by calling (818) 548-4844 or emailing Sustainability@Glendaleca.gov

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