Cambridge, MA Single-Use Items: Polystyrene Foam Rules (2026)

Adopted as Ordinance No. 1374 on October 19, 2015 and codified at Cambridge Code Chapter 8.70, the Prohibition on the Use of Polystyrene Based Disposable Food Containers Ordinance took effect one year after enactment, per Section 8.70.050. Section 8.70.040 states that food establishments 'are prohibited from dispensing prepared food to customers in disposable food service containers made from polystyrene.' Section 8.70.030 defines a 'Disposable Food Service Container' broadly: plates, cups, bowls, trays, hinged or lidded containers, straws, cup lids and utensils, and unprepared-food packaging, all count if made of expanded or oriented polystyrene.

'Food Establishment' reaches any fixed, mobile, permanent or temporary operation serving the public, expressly including school cafeterias. A Food Establishment facing undue hardship, meaning no reasonable substitute exists, a legally protected right would be burdened, or it needs time to draw down existing polystyrene inventory, may apply to the Commissioner of Public Works under Section 8.70.060 for an exemption of up to six months, renewable once for a further six months if the hardship continues; an inventory-drawdown exemption requires monthly reports on stock levels to the Commissioner.

The Commissioner may charge an exemption-application fee by regulation. Enforcement runs through the Commissioner of Public Works, the Executive Director of the License Commission, the Executive Director of the Inspectional Services Department and the Commissioner of the Health Commission, each empowered as an enforcing person. The ordinance does not reach plastic containers, cups or straws that are not made of polystyrene; Cambridge has not adopted a broader ban on plastic foodware.