Sustainability committee advances single‑use materials ordinance, approves ban on 8‑ounce plastic water bottles

At its Sept. 18 meeting, the Santa Barbara City Sustainability Council Committee voted to advance a draft single‑use materials ordinance and separately approved a ban on the sale and distribution of single‑use 8‑fluid‑ounce plastic water bottles at city events and in city facilities.

The committee’s proposed ordinance would expand the city’s existing foam ban to add rigid polystyrene foodware, require disposable foodware distributed to customers to be compostable in the county system and free of added PFAS chemicals, prohibit plastic and bioplastic single‑use cutlery (including removal of the upon‑request exemption), restrict sale of some balloons and confetti, and require a phased rollout of reusable‑first rules for on‑site food service and for permitted events.

Daniella Rosales, who identified herself as a staff member in the Clean Community Division of the city’s Sustainability and Resilience Department, summarized the proposed changes and the staff work since the committee saw an earlier draft in November. Rosales said the draft would amend the municipal code to add rigid polystyrene products to the city’s polystyrene ban and would amend municipal code sections cited in staff materials (identified in the presentation as Municipal Code 9.16.o and Municipal Code 9.165) to create the new disposable foodware standard. “The sale and distribution of these water bottles would be banned in the city,” Rosales said when describing the limited plastic water bottle prohibition; staff clarified the water‑bottle restriction is limited to small, 8‑fluid‑ounce single‑use plastic bottles and that the broader aseptic container prohibition (for items such as juice boxes or Tetra Pak) would apply only at city‑owned or city‑operated facilities and events.

Why it matters: Rosales told the committee that county recycling and composting infrastructure cannot process many plastics and so disposable plastic and many bioplastic foodware items are ultimately landfilled. The draft therefore emphasizes reusable foodware for on‑site dining, offers exemptions where businesses cannot reasonably access dishwashing capacity, and proposes grants for dishwashers and reusable foodware to ease the transition for local businesses.

Key provisions and implementation steps

- Polystyrene: The draft would add rigid polystyrene foodware to the city’s ban on expanded polystyrene containers adopted in 2019.

- Disposable foodware standard: Disposable to‑go foodware would be required to be compostable in the county’s system and free of added PFAS chemicals. Rosales said the change aligns the city with neighboring jurisdictions and addresses evidence that “plastic and bioplastic foodware cannot be recycled or composted at the county’s resource center.”

- Cutlery: The existing “upon request” rule for single‑use plastic cutlery would be removed; single‑use plastic and bioplastic cutlery would no longer be allowed for distribution.

- Limited water bottle ban and aseptic containers: The committee approved a limited ban on single‑use plastic water bottles of 8 fluid ounces or less for sale and distribution; aseptic containers (juice boxes/Tetra Pak) would be prohibited at city‑owned or city‑operated facilities and events. Staff said public‑health and emergency exemptions would be included.

- Events: Permitted events would be required to ensure at least 10% of beverages served are in reusable cups. The requirement would phase in, applying to city‑led events in year one and to all permitted events in year two. Staff said permit applications will require event organizers to explain how they will meet the requirement; exemptions for undue hardship are included.

- Confetti and balloons: The draft would prohibit sale of mylar balloons and plastic/mylar confetti and would prohibit balloon releases; latex balloons would remain allowed.

- Bags: Staff recommended repealing the city’s current bag ordinance and adopting the state law that bans all plastic carryout bags, including thicker plastic grocery bags, effective Jan. 1, 2026, per the state statute noted in the presentation.

Business outreach, pilot and enforcement

Rosales reported business outreach and a materials survey of 282 local businesses: about 56 reported serving disposable foodware for on‑site customers. She described a pilot reusable cup program at Dune Coffee (city matched the shop’s 50¢ discount for a $1 total discount from June through August), reporting that “the number of customers who brought in their own cup about doubled” and that “a total of about 17,000 reusable cups were used during the pilot period.” Staff said the city is preparing outreach materials, will add refill stations at some sites, and plans to hire an additional full‑time code enforcement officer and a full‑time recycling educator to support implementation.

Questions and concerns raised

Committee members and public commenters asked about enforcement burden and costs for volunteer event organizers, how the 10% reusable target would be tracked, whether personal refillable bottles count toward the 10%, and whether the 10% target would phase upward over time. Rosales said tracking would be implemented through the event permitting process and that providing on‑site refill infrastructure (or similar measures) could count toward meeting the 10% requirement if described in the permit. She also said the phased approach—city events first, then permitted community events—was intentionally designed to let staff work out logistics before broader application. Rosales confirmed exemptions and hardship waivers would be available and that staff would continue to refine outreach and grant programs to reduce cost barriers.

Public comment: Patty King of the Community Environmental Council praised the staff proposal and described local efforts to grow reusable cup infrastructure. King said the cost and logistics of off‑site washing (currently performed in Los Angeles by vendors used by regional reusable cup services) add hundreds of dollars to service costs and that increasing regional demand could attract a local wash facility.

Formal actions and next steps

A committee member announced a recusal for the 8‑ounce water bottle item because their employer sells those bottles; that member said they would leave the room for that discussion. The committee took two formal votes by unanimous consent: one to approve the limited 8‑fluid‑ounce single‑use plastic water bottle ban and a second motion to approve the remaining provisions of the single‑use materials update. Staff told the committee the ordinance language is drafted and will be finalized with the city attorney’s office and then go to the ordinance committee and city council for adoption.

Rosales recommended the committee forward a recommendation to council via the ordinance committee to adopt the single‑use materials ordinance; the committee voted in favor and the item will move forward for ordinance drafting and subsequent council consideration.