Unlike many coastal California cities, Bakersfield has not enacted a local polystyrene foam takeout container ban. State law SB 54 will phase out problematic plastics by 2032, but day-to-day Bakersfield restaurants may still use foam clamshells.
Many California cities such as Berkeley, Santa Monica, and San Francisco have banned expanded polystyrene foam takeout containers. Bakersfield, consistent with its Central Valley conservative regulatory posture, has not adopted such a local ban. Restaurants may legally serve takeout in foam clamshells, cups, and bowls. Statewide, SB 54 (the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act of 2022) requires major reductions in single-use plastic packaging by 2032 and bans expanded polystyrene food service ware unless producers meet aggressive recycling rate targets, effectively phasing it out. Bakersfield restaurants will need to transition by the SB 54 compliance deadlines.
No current local fine. Future SB 54 producer obligations and enforcement by CalRecycle will fall on packaging producers rather than individual Bakersfield restaurants directly.
See how Bakersfield's polystyrene foam rules rules stack up against other locations.
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