N Calif City May Tax Paper Cups 25 Cents
Written by 991KBU on April 26, 2018
Malibu has been getting worldwide publicity for requiring recyclable materials at take out restaurants and cafes .
But there are problems.
No local waste company will truck the recyclable stuff out.
And now … comes word that as much as one third of the recycled paper … cardboard and other recyclable waste in California … is not getting recycled … but is simply being shipped to China.
To China.
Not any more.
China has banned shipping recyclables to that country.
One California city … Berkeley … is about to take the next step.
It will require places like McDonalds or Starbucks to charge 25 cents for a drink cup … even if it recyclable.
But no surcharge for people who bring in their own mug or other reusable containers to avoid the surcharge.
Paper plates??? 25 cents.
Plastic fork?? Even if its recyclable??? 25 cents.
Same for a recyclable one-use cardboard food container.
Straws, napkins and coffee stirrers would be free.
One Berkeley city councilwoman says “The idea that we can just use stuff and recycle it and it’ll be rosy on the other end is just not the reality.
“We simply have to change our relationship with disposable food ware and ultimately all disposable items.”
That story is rewritten from original reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle.
