Massachusetts does not regulate plastic straws statewide, but several cities and towns require restaurants to provide straws only on request or use compostable alternatives.
Massachusetts has no statewide plastic straw prohibition or upon-request rule, leaving regulation to local governments. Cities including Brookline, Cambridge, and Newton have adopted ordinances requiring straws-on-request, banning plastic straws outright, or mandating compostable alternatives. ADA accommodations require restaurants to provide flexible straws to guests with disabilities even where bans apply. State agencies have moved toward sustainable purchasing under environmental procurement policy, but no MGL chapter directly governs straws.
Local ordinance penalties typically begin with warnings followed by fines of $50 to $300 per violation under municipal solid-waste enforcement procedures.
Norfolk County, MA
Norfolk County does not regulate amplified music. Each municipality requires entertainment licenses or one-day amplified sound permits under MGL c. 140 §183A...
Norfolk County, MA
Norfolk County does not handle abandoned vehicles. MGL c. 90B §2 allows police to remove abandoned vehicles after 72 hours. Quincy, Brookline, and Weymouth t...
Norfolk County, MA
Norfolk County does not regulate chickens or livestock. Each town sets its own rules via zoning and board of health regulations. Suburban towns often restric...
Bellingham, MA
Bellingham follows the Massachusetts state framework for residential fire pits: cooking-only fire pits and grills are exempt from open-burning rules, but any...
Bellingham, MA
Bellingham allows residential open burning only during the Massachusetts state burn season — January 15 through May 1 — with a daily permit from the Bellingh...
Norfolk County, MA
Brookline enacted the first MA town-wide ban on new artificial turf on town property (2023 Town Meeting Art. 14). Other Norfolk County towns allow turf resid...
See how Bellingham's plastic straw rules rules stack up against other locations.
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