[ad_1]
This makes California the first state to ban restaurants from automatically supplying plastic straws. Some cities have already taken the plunge; Seattle has also banned the use of plastic utensils.
California law does not apply to fast food restaurants or convenience stores. Full-service restaurants can still distribute paper or metal straws that their customers have never bought. Offenders may be fined $ 25 per day after two warnings.
Bill 1884 on the Assembly was signed to reduce pollution from plastics and will come into effect on January 1.
Brown said that plastic pollution kills thousands of marine animals each year. The researchers found 80 plastic bags in the stomach of a dead pilot whale that went aground in Thailand, he added.
"Plastics, in all their forms – straws, bottles, packaging, bags, etc. – are choking our planet," Brown said in a statement.
"It's a very small step to ask a customer who wants a plastic straw," he wrote. "And that could make them think and think about an alternative."
California banned free disposable plastic bags in 2014.
A report released last year by science journal Science Advances indicated that in 2015, only 9% of plastics were recycled, 12% were incinerated and 79% found themselves in the environment.
Source link
