Indianapolis cannot require restaurants to switch to paper straws or to provide plastic straws only on request. Indiana Code 36-1-3-5.6 prevents any local regulation of single-use food service items, including straws.
Straws-on-request laws and outright plastic-straw bans have spread through California and the East Coast, but Indiana's auxiliary container preemption captures straws as part of its broad definition of disposable food service items. Indianapolis cannot adopt a straws-on-request policy like Seattle's or California AB 1884. Restaurants may unilaterally switch to paper, compostable, or pasta straws — and several Indianapolis breweries and coffee shops have — but the city cannot enforce a default. Disability-rights advocates have also raised concerns about strict bans because flexible plastic straws remain medically necessary for some users; voluntary opt-in models avoid that conflict in Indianapolis.
No enforcement exists because Indianapolis cannot mandate straw practices; any ordinance attempting to require alternatives would be void under IC 36-1-3-5.6.
See how Indianapolis's plastic straw rules rules stack up against other locations.
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