More regulations on single-use plastics and other disposable single-use items that often end up polluting local beaches will go into effect in Del Mar next month following the City Council’s Jan. 6 vote on the second reading of a new ordinance.
The new ordinance will include further restrictions on noncompostable single-use utensils, the sale of expanded polystyrene coolers, ice chests or other containers, and drinks in single-use plastic bottles at city functions or on city property.
Businesses throughout Del Mar now have a six-month grace period to comply. City officials have said initial enforcement will focus on education.
Existing city regulations in Del Mar that have gone into effect over the last 10 years already included restrictions on single-use plastic bags for carryout, plastic straws and stirrers, and balloons filled with helium or other lighter-than-air gasses.
The second reading was approved as part of the city’s consent calendar, in which multiple routine items are voted on at once.
Discussion and public comment took place last month when council members unanimously approved the first reading.
A citywide statement mentioned the harm that plastics and styrofoam can cause the environment when “materials can take hundreds of years to degrade and when they find their way to the ocean, small pieces can be ingested by marine life.”
“People can face health risks after eating seafood that has been exposed to plastic toxins,” the city announcement continued. “Degrading plastic in landfills can leach toxic chemicals into groundwater.”
Statewide, there is also a new law banning grocery stores from giving customers plastic bags at checkout, authored by state Sen. Catherine Blakespear.
Blakespear said in a statement that the new law “will eliminate millions of plastic bags from our waste stream, and using paper bags, when you don’t have a reusable one, is a more renewable and recyclable resource that doesn’t require drilling for oil in its creation, as plastic bags do.”