Troy, NY Single-Use Items: Plastic Straw Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Troy City Code § 189-3, plastic straws
- Core rule
- Plastic straws provided only upon request
- Who is covered
- Food service establishments, on-premises or takeout
- Excluded straws
- Paper, pasta, sugar cane, wood, bamboo and reusable straws
- Effective date
- March 1, 2020 (§ 189-8)
- Penalty ladder
- Warning, then up to $100, $250 and $500
Summary
In the City of Troy, New York, food service establishments shall only provide plastic straws upon request to customers. Section 189-3 does not ban the straws outright, and the City issues guidance on signage telling customers they can ask for one. Repeat violations draw civil penalties of up to $500 and daily $100 fines.
A. Food service establishments shall only provide plastic straws upon request to customers. B. The City of Troy shall issue guidance and educational materials to food service establishments on signage with respect to communicating to customers that they can ask for plastic straws where such establishments provide them upon request.
Full Breakdown
Section 189-3 of the Troy City Code, adopted by the Troy City Council in Article I of Chapter 189 on 9-5-2019 by Ord. No. 73, turns plastic straws into an ask-first item. Under subsection A, food service establishments shall only provide plastic straws upon request to customers, so a server cannot drop a straw in every glass or leave a pile at the counter. Under subsection B, the City of Troy issues guidance and educational materials to food service establishments on signage communicating to customers that they can ask for plastic straws where the establishment provides them upon request.
The definitions in § 189-1 decide what is covered. A single-use plastic straw is a single-use, disposable tube made predominantly of plastic derived from petroleum or from a biologically based polymer, such as corn or other plant sources, used to move a beverage from a container to the mouth of the person drinking it. Straws made from nonplastic materials, including paper, pasta, sugar cane, wood or bamboo, are outside the definition, and so is a straw expressly marketed as and intended for reuse. A food service establishment is a place where prepared food is provided for individual portion service directly to a customer, whether consumption occurs on or off the premises, so the rule reaches takeout counters as well as sit-down restaurants.
Section 189-0C states the purpose as reducing the use of plastic straws. The article took effect March 1, 2020 under § 189-8. Enforcement follows § 189-5: the City of Troy investigates after notice of a potential violation and imposes the civil penalty. Collected fines go to offset compliance and oversight costs or the City's waste removal and recycling costs. Section 189-6 provides that any section of the article becomes null and void on the day a Rensselaer County or statewide law with the same or substantially similar provisions takes effect, or when a county, state or federal agency preempts the City by regulation, and the Troy City Council decides by resolution whether that trigger has occurred.
Violations & Fines
Under § 189-5, a first violation draws a written warning, a second a civil penalty not to exceed $100, a third not to exceed $250 and a fourth not to exceed $500. For each subsequent violation, daily fines of $100 apply until compliance is achieved. The penalty follows an investigation by the City of Troy after notice of a potential violation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Troy restaurants hand out plastic straws automatically?
Are paper straws covered by the Troy straw rule?
Does Troy require signs about straws?
What is the penalty for handing out straws without being asked in Troy?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Troy
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