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Anaheim, CA Single-Use Items: Polystyrene Foam Rules (2026)

Some Restrictions
Compiled from the official code textEditor Martyn O'NeillLast verified May 2026

Key Facts

Effective
January 1, 2025
Recycling threshold
65% to allow continued use
Authority
CA SB 54 / PRC 42040
Regulator
CalRecycle

Summary

California SB 54 requires producers to eliminate expanded polystyrene foodware unless a sixty-five percent recycling rate is met, effectively banning foam clamshells and cups at Anaheim restaurants and food trucks beginning in 2025.

42040. (a) This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act. (b) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) Disadvantaged and low-income communities are disproportionately impacted by the human health and environmental impacts of plastic pollution and fossil fuel extraction. (2) (A) Local jurisdictions are the backbone of the solid waste management and recycling efforts in California. The new statewide comprehensive circular economy framework established by this chapter is intended to shift the burden of costs to collect, process, and recycle materials from the local jurisdictions to the producers of covered material. (B) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this chapter to ensure that local jurisdictions will be made financially whole for any new costs incurred associated with the implementation of this chapter and its implementing regulations. (3) (A) In 2021, only 5 percent of postconsumer plastic waste in the United States was recycled, down from a high of 9.5 percent in 2014 [...] (B) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish a producer responsibility program designed to ensure that producers of single-use packaging and food service ware covered by this program take responsibility for the costs associated with the end-of-life management of that material and ensure that the material is recyclable or compostable.

Source: California Legislative InfoView official code

Full Breakdown

California Senate Bill 54 (2022) sets the most aggressive plastic-packaging law in the nation. By January 1, 2025, expanded polystyrene foam foodware including clamshells, cups, plates, and bowls cannot be sold or distributed in California unless producers prove a sixty-five percent statewide recycling rate, a target widely viewed as unattainable. Anaheim restaurants, food trucks, school cafeterias, and event vendors must therefore switch to fiber, certified compostable, or reusable foodware. CalRecycle administers compliance and producer responsibility plans. Anaheim has no separate local foam ordinance because state law fully occupies the field.

Violations & Fines

Distributing prohibited foam foodware after the SB 54 deadline can result in CalRecycle administrative penalties up to $50,000 per day per producer, and retailers risk supply-chain compliance audits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I still buy foam coolers?
Foam shipping coolers and ice chests are not foodware and remain legal, though SB 54 separately targets non-foodware foam packaging by 2032.
Are compostable bowls compliant?
Yes, certified compostable fiber or PLA bowls meet the foodware requirement, but Anaheim lacks municipal compost so they typically end up in landfill.

Sources & Official References

Other rules in Anaheim

All Anaheim rules

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