Restrict Single-Use Food Serviceware Distribution
SB146 restricts the distribution of single-use food serviceware in Colorado beginning January 1, 2027. The bill generally prohibits retail food establishments and third-party food delivery services from automatically providing items such as utensils, napkins, straws, stirrers, lids, condiment packets, and similar disposable accessories with delivery or carryout orders unless the customer requests them or affirmatively confirms they want them after being asked. It also bars bundled packages containing more than one type of single-use food serviceware and requires businesses to provide only the items specifically requested.
The bill defines key terms broadly, including “single-use food serviceware,” “single-use condiment,” “third-party food delivery service,” and “special event,” and it expands the scope of covered retail food establishments for this purpose to include farmers markets, roadside markets, cottage food producers, and small stores when they are operating as retail food establishments. It also creates a compliance framework for delivery platforms, allowing them to satisfy the law if their default is not to provide these items, they offer a clear selection process, and they accurately transmit customer requests to the restaurant or retailer.
The bill amends Colorado’s existing plastic waste reduction statutes in Title 25, Article 17 by adding a new section governing single-use food serviceware and by revising definitions used in that part. It does not ban all disposable serviceware, but it changes the default rule from automatic provision to customer-requested provision, with several exemptions for self-service stations, social service meals, airports, hotels, health facilities, school cafeterias, and spill-prevention items used for transport or delivery. The Department of Public Health and Environment is assigned website and enforcement-related responsibilities, and the bill expressly preserves existing restrictions on single-use plastic carryout bags and expanded polystyrene products.
The overall sentiment appears supportive but not unanimous. The bill advanced through committee and floor votes in both chambers, including several unanimous committee amendment votes in the Senate, but it also drew meaningful opposition on the floor, especially in the House where amendment and third-reading votes were closer than many routine measures. The vote pattern suggests broad agreement with the environmental goal of reducing unnecessary disposable items, alongside some concern about implementation and business impacts.
The main points of contention appear to be the practical burden on restaurants, retailers, and delivery platforms, and whether the bill’s “ask first” model is the right regulatory approach. Supporters emphasize reduced plastic waste, lower contamination in recycling and compost streams, environmental justice benefits, and cost savings for businesses. Potential critics are likely to focus on added compliance complexity, customer-service workflow changes, and the bill’s reach into delivery apps, small stores, farmers markets, cottage food operations, and special events. The exemptions for vulnerable-population meals, health facilities, airports, hotels, and spill-prevention items suggest lawmakers were trying to balance waste reduction with operational and public-health concerns.