Knoxville cannot require plastic straws to be available only on request or ban them outright. The state auxiliary container preemption covers straws and stirrers along with bags, cups, and packaging.
Plastic straws, stirrers, and similar utensils are auxiliary containers under TCA 68-211-1101, so Knoxville cannot adopt any ordinance restricting their distribution or requiring on-request-only service. Some downtown Knoxville restaurants and University of Tennessee dining halls voluntarily switched to paper, compostable, or on-request straw policies, and the city's Office of Sustainability promotes those efforts. State agencies and federal accessibility laws also preserve plastic straws as reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities, which the ADA requires regardless of any future legislative change. The city's role is education and voluntary partnership rather than regulation.
No penalties exist for distributing plastic straws. Restaurants choosing voluntary on-request policies must still provide plastic straws as a disability accommodation upon request to comply with the ADA.
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