When your local fast-food server asks if you want fries with your order, you’ll also need to ask for utensils, condiments, or straws to toss into the bag.
That’s because beginning Jan. 1, Washington restaurants will no longer automatically include single-use foodservice items with food orders. A new state law restricts the use of these items and prohibits packaged bundles of single-use items in order to reduce waste and litter — although customers can still request items if needed.
Single-use service ware items covered by the new requirements include:
- Utensils (knives, forks, spoons or chopsticks).
- Cocktail picks, splash sticks and stirrers.
- Straws.
- Condiment packets, sachets or saucecups.
- Cold cup lids, except those provided at drive-through windows or events with over 2,500 people in attendance.
Under the new law, to receive a single-use food service ware item, customers must request it, confirm their choice when asked, or select the item they want from a self-service station.
“Automatically including disposable silverware, straws and condiments with every order create a huge amount of waste, much of which ends up littering our roads and damaging our environment,” said Laurie Davies, manager of the Solid Waste program at the Washington State Department of Ecology.
Davies said nearly one trillion single-use foodservice products are disposed or littered each year in the U.S., according to a 2021 Upstream report. Single-use food service ware items are also major contaminants in Washington’s recycling system that decreases the value of recycled materials.
