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Yarmouth Board of Health approves temporary waivers to let businesses exhaust plastic stock while they switch to compostable alternatives
Summary
The Yarmouth Board of Health on May 4 approved a series of temporary variances letting businesses use existing plastic tableware and cups while they transition to compostable or recyclable alternatives, setting staggered reevaluation dates (July–Columbus Day–December) and asking businesses to notify staff when inventory is exhausted.
The Yarmouth Board of Health voted May 4 to grant multiple temporary variances that allow local businesses to use existing inventories of plastic tableware and cups while they transition to approved compostable or recyclable alternatives.
Board staff opened item 4 by noting eight waiver requests on the agenda. Small operators, hotels and restaurants described large pre-existing inventories bought in bulk and limited access to affordable, available compostable alternatives. Piyush Patel said he represents three hotels and asked for time to use existing cutlery and cups while sourcing replacements. Allen Davis of Cape Cod Creamery and Damien Grozier, general manager of the Hole in One, described supply shortages and steep price differences for acceptable compostable products.
Board members repeatedly emphasized two goals: minimize waste by encouraging businesses to use existing stock and push for rapid adoption of compliant products. Board member Mary Wall observed that businesses that have tested alternatives were already transitioning and said she wanted businesses to report back when they had exhausted inventory. Staff displayed product samples at the meeting and supplied a vendor list to applicants.
The board approved individual variances with different deadlines tied to each business’s seasonality and inventory: short two-month variances (for some small food vendors), an October deadline for several hotels, and Columbus Day for operators who said supplies would last through the high season. The Friday Club, a nonprofit that buys in bulk for fundraisers, received a waiver through Dec. 26 to complete planned events. Where businesses said they had exhausted stock early, staff asked them to notify the health department to confirm compliance.
No roll-call tallies were recorded in the transcript; votes were taken by voice and the board announced “aye” for each approval. The board did not amend the underlying plastic-reduction regulation during the meeting; it acted only to grant temporary, case-by-case variances and directed staff to track expirations and confirmations of compliance.
The board’s next step is procedural: staff will log waiver expiration dates and notify the board if businesses report remaining noncompliant stock. Businesses were encouraged to use the vendor lists and coordinate purchases where feasible to reduce cost.
Quotes
“We changed most of the things that you guys want us to do... we want to request for extension until approximately September to get rid of all the stuff that we have right now,” said a representative of Basil Tai, requesting time to use leftover supplies.
“We stock up our utensils and plates and bowls for the breakfast we provide every morning... we want to get rid of it before we go into the compostable or recyclable options,” said Piyush Patel, representing multiple hotels.
What’s next
Board staff will maintain a log of granted variances and their reevaluation dates and will ask businesses to confirm when their inventories are exhausted so the department can verify compliance.
