1 décembre 2022

Straws Legal in Oregon

Posted by under: Non classé .

There are many alternatives to plastic straws, but few of them are attractive. The first is to get customers to bring their reusable straws to restaurants. These can be made of metal, wood or even plastic and last for years. However, it can be tedious to get customers to bring their own straws. In some cases, restaurants or other retailers use paper straws. Paper straws usually have a thin wax coating to prevent the straw from getting soaked. But if you`ve ever used a paper straw, you know it will always get mushy. There are two other cases where retailers may distribute plastic straws. If a person is in an aisle, they can be given plastic straws without asking.

The other case concerns self-service facilities, such as a café-bar at a petrol station. In situations where customers order their groceries at a counter, food cart, or cafeteria line, you can`t automatically add plastic straws, stirrers, utensils, or spice bags to a customer`s order. As more laws like Oregon`s pass through their state legislators, the need for solid alternatives to single-use plastic straws is growing. Currently, most restaurants and other food and beverage retailers use paper straws. Plastic straws and agitators. Plastic utensils, including forks, spoons, pigs and knives. Since many restaurants are replacing their plastic straws with alternatives, why not buy sugarcane straws in Oregon? They last longer in drinks, taste better and are 100% biodegradable, just like paper straws. Compared to paper and plastic straws, sugarcane straws are a breeze! You can only provide individually wrapped plastic straws, agitators, utensils or spices if a customer wishes. Other plastic utensils such as agitators, forks and knives are prohibited, as are plastic straws. Restaurants and convenience stores can issue them, but only at the customer`s request. Spices wrapped in plastic, such as ketchup and mustard, are also prohibited unless necessary.

You can`t automatically add plastic straws, stirrers, utensils, or spice packs to a customer`s order, but you can ask customers if they need any of these items. Many cities are interested in adopting their own rules for the use of plastic straws. Portland has already adopted new regulations at the end of 2018 (the application will begin on 1. July 2019) to implement a straw rule on demand, and the Eugene City Council is also discussing a similar ordinance. However, changing Oregon`s potential statewide ban could ban cities from regulating the use of plastic straws, which would overturn existing ordinances like Portland`s. In May 2019, the state of Oregon passed Senate Bill 90, which limits straws to « on demand » only. The state bill does not prejudge Portland`s policies. Businesses within Portland city limits must comply with Portland`s policy, which includes not only straws, but also individually wrapped stirrers, utensils and spices. If you wish to provide these items, you must add a question in the ordering process asking customers if they need plastic items (utensils, straws or stirrers, or spice packets) and provide only the items requested by the customer. Straws, stirrers or plastic spice packets should be stored behind the counter. If a customer orders food « to stay, » employees should only provide items if a customer requests it.

If the customer orders to « go, » employees can ask a customer if they need any of the items. The law also introduced fines for entities that do not comply. First, the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the Oregon Department of Health, or the county health departments notify the company twice. If a company still distributes plastic straws, it will be fined $25 per day, with a maximum fine of $300 per year. Senate Bill 90 allows straws to be provided if customers wish. If you decide to continue stockpiling single-use plastic straws, you`ll need to get used to a new procedure to comply with the « on demand » rule. You need to prepare your employees to break the habit of handing out plastic straws to every customer – they should ask for it first. However, individually wrapped plastic straws, stirrers and spices* should be stored behind the counter. (You can ask customers if they need these items.) If passed in Oregon, restaurants that hand over unsolicited single-use plastic straws could face fines of up to $300. The first and second violations result in a written warning, and all subsequent violations will result in a fine of $25 for each day the restaurant does not comply, not more than $300 per year. So if paper straws are so bad, what alternatives are there? Sugarcane straws are one of the new straws on the market.

Sugarcane straws use the fibers of the sugarcane plant to create a straw with structural integrity and 100% biodegradable materials. Sugarcane straws have a slight brown sugar taste. While it`s not important enough to replace the sugar in your drink, straw leaves a pleasant taste in your mouth instead of a paper flavor. Starting in the summer of 2019, restaurants, convenience stores and wherever food and beverages are served in Oregon needed to have an alternative to their long-used plastic straws. When the straw ban went into effect in early 2020, they didn`t have many options. While this is the heart of the law, it has a few additional subtleties that make it unique. Let`s review the law, its implications and some alternatives to those useless paper straws. Oregon also joins a smaller group, including California and Vermont, in regulating straws. The recently signed law in Vermont (p.113), which also bans plastic stirrers and expanded polystyrene foam containers, continues to be considered the gold standard by environmental groups. Oregon`s own attempt to ban moss failed this year because of the state legislature. Portland businesses cannot automatically include individually wrapped plastic straws, stirrers, utensils or spices in a customer`s order for dinner, drive-thru, takeout, or delivery. The House amendment clarifies that the ban does not apply to hospitals or nursing homes that provide straws to patients and residents.

The bill also includes an exception for drive-thru controls, allowing convenience stores to leave straws unattended if there is not enough space for them behind the counter. The ban on plastic straws has not completely banned the products. Instead, the law required that retailers could not automatically issue orders, including a plastic straw. Instead, the customer should ask for a straw. As soon as the customer requests it, the merchant can distribute plastic straws. In 2019, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed Senate Bill 90. This law specifically prohibited restaurants and other grocers from automatically ingesting plastic straws without the customer requesting one. Some people with disabilities find it difficult or impossible to drink without a straw, and plastic straws meet their needs better than paper or metal straws. Even if you want to do without plastic straws altogether, we recommend keeping a small stock if you wish. One of the best qualities of sugar cane straws is their taste. If you`ve ever used a paper straw, you know it tastes unique.

They basically have a taste for paper, and who wants that in their mouth? While the ban has been effective in that many people have stopped using plastic straws, it has not completely banned plastic straws. In places like Portland, restaurants must also consider « compostable » or « biodegradable » plastic straws as plastic straws and only distribute them upon request. The only advantage of paper straws over most of their competitors is how quickly they start to biodegrade. Within four hours in a liquid, you can place your paper straw in the compost bin. If your restaurant provides straws made from a sustainable alternative – such as wheat (HAY straws!), stainless steel, paper or bamboo – then you`re good to go: you don`t have to change anything. However, if you currently provide single-use plastic straws, you will need to comply with the new law. Oregon is considering introducing a statewide rule that would prohibit full-service restaurants from shipping single-use plastic straws to customers unless requested by the customer. This is commonly referred to as the « straw on demand » rule.

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