Recycling: polystyrene food containers.

Existing law requires all rigid plastic bottles and rigid plastic containers sold in the state to be labeled with a code that indicates the resin used to produce the rigid plastic bottle or rigid plastic container. The California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989, administered by the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, requires every rigid plastic packaging container, as defined, sold or offered for sale in this state to generally meet one of specified criteria. This bill would prohibit a food vendor, on and after January 1, 2016, from dispensing prepared food to a customer in a polystyrene foam food container and would define related terms. The bill would provide that a food vendor that is a school district is not required to comply with the bill's requirements until July 1, 2017, and would allow a food vendor that is a school district to dispense prepared food to a customer in a polystyrene foam food container after that date if the governing board of the school district elects to adopt a policy to implement a verifiable recycling program for polystyrene foam food containers, which would be renewable, as specified. The bill would also allow a food vendor to dispense prepared food to a customer in a polystyrene foam food container after January 1, 2016, in a city or county if the city or county elects to adopt an ordinance establishing a specified recycling program for polystyrene foam food containers, which would be operative, as specified. The bill would allow a food vendor to dispense prepared food to a customer in a polystyrene foam food container in a city or county if that food vendor demonstrates to the satisfaction of the city or county that compliance with the requirements of the bill would impose an undue economic hardship, as defined. The bill would authorize a city or county to exempt the food vendor until January 1, 2017, or for a period of not more than one year from the date of the demonstration, and would allow a food vendor to reapply for additional one-year exemptions from the bill's requirements.